Tree Frogs of Panama

As many of you know by now, I love using Scupley. After feeling like I was becoming a bit too obsessed with Scupley, I decided to take a break from sculpting type projects. When I did sculpt, I tried a new kind of clay and didn't care for it much, while it was easier to use because it was softer, it was messier and cracked as it dried. (See it here.)


I decided that it had been long enough and it was time to buy some sculpey. We made a trip to the craft store and loaded our basket up with some Sculpey, but then, we stumbled upon something else. Model Magic made by Crayola. Air drying, soft sculpting clay. Whoa! I decided that since it felt so soft through the package, it would be far easier for my littles to work with. It was a little bit more expensive per package, but there are 4 oz in a package as compared to 2 oz of Scupley, so really, it's the better price. 


While learning about The Red Eyed Tree Frog from the book that we borrowed from the library, we knew we'd want to do a tree frog project. While we were doing our Panama research, we also learned about The Panamanian Golden Frog. The tree frogs in Panama are all suffering due to a fungus that came to the Rainforest in the 1990s, but Panamanian golden frog is critically endangered because of it, and has become a national symbol of Panama. Some believe that when a Golden frog dies, it turns to gold. 


I pulled out my "special" craft tablecloth for the occasion since I had no idea what kind of mess we might be dealing with. Set up the computer with some tree frog images thanks to google images and the book that we borrowed from the library. 

We looked a few pictures of tree frogs and started sculpting. Aiden decided that he wanted to start with a Strawberry poison dart frog. 

Eliana opted for a Golden frog. 

Aiden then made a golden frog as well. 

Yes, we all decided that it made sense to make a golden frog. So we made a few. 

This Model Magic clay was so easy to work with and incredibly light weight. I think this is maybe what those circus peanut candies are made of. ;) My littles decided that they were done and ready to go do something else, but I didn't want to stop, I made several others before I finally decided to put the clay away. 

This one reminds me of a marshmallw peep. 

Have you ever used Model Magic before? Did you find it incredibly easy to work with as I did? Or do you use a different sculpting medium? 


I am still in search of a reader who has been to Panama to be our Traveling Friend, to be featured next week. Please contact me at mamacitasglobe[at]yahoo[dot]com.