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How to Make Molds of Childrens' Toys

Making a mold of children's toys mean you can replicate them at any time. You can fill up the molds using modeling clay and when they are dry, have your children paint them. It's a good method to get your children to try and copy the original toy. You can buy readymade molds, but you can also make molds yourself using a few old newspapers and a packet of powdered glue.

Things You'll Need

Bucket (2)
Newspapers
Powdered glue
Wooden stick

Instructions

- 1
  Tear up strips of newspaper using your hands and put the strips in a bucket. The amount of paper depends on the size of the children's toy, but you can always add to it, if there isn't enough.
- 2
  Pour water into the bucket so it makes the paper wet, but not so you can see water in the bucket. If you add too much water, then tear up more strips of paper. Mix the paper around in the bucket using your hands so all the paper is wet.
- 3
  Mix up the contents of a packet of powdered glue with water, using the instructions on the packet. Stir the mix using a stick until the powder has dissolved and the water gets thick. You can get powdered glue from hobby stores if you don't have any.
- 4
  Pour the glue gradually into the bucket containing the paper. Mix the glue and paper as you add it. Your hands are the best tools for this job. Continuing adding the glue slowly, until the mixture is thick and you can't see that it's paper. The consistency is correct when you can pick up a handful of the mixture and mold it into shapes.
- 5
  Put your child's toy into a plastic bag, but leave the top of the bag open. The bag makes it easy to release the mold from the toy. Start at the bottom and cover your child's toy using the mixture. Build up an initial layer, pushing hard into the toy, so it pushes any air in the bag out of the top and presses tightly against the outside of the toy to form a mold. When you get to the top, make sure the air is out of the bag, then fold down the top of the bag and finish covering the toy using the mixture. Put on a second and third layer. You need it to be about ½ inch thick.
- 6
  Leave the mold to dry slightly in a warm place for about a day, but check every few hours to make sure the mixture doesn't harden too much. When the mixture is reasonably hard, but not solid, use a pen and draw a circular line around the outside of the mold.
- 7
  Cut through the mold carefully with a sharp knife, following the line you've drawn. Don't try to separate the two halves. Leave the mold to completely harden. It may take another day or more, depending on the temperature.
- 8
  Pry the two halves of the mold apart gently using your hands. Use a knife to ease the mold apart if necessary. Remove the two halves of the mold from the child's toy. Remove the plastic bag from the toy. Put the mold somewhere safe, until you want to make a replica of the toy.

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