Say & clay it with love

Carving an idol of Lord Ganesha at home would be a fascinating decision for parents and children who are attempting to create memories during this time of the pandemic, writes Kuhoo Gupta

Carving an idol of Lord Ganesha at home would be a great way for parents and children to celebrate the festival as it also offers an opportunity to create memories during this unprecedented time of the pandemic. On the day of Ganesh Chaturthi every year, people prefer to get glistening and bright coloured idols from the market made of Plaster of Paris that are painted with synthetic colours. The pandemic is an eye-opener for making a new beginning.

Let us see how to prepare an idol’s natural-based colour and embellishments with your kids.

Clay is easily available online and offline as it is used by many potters. Guide your child to mix the clay powder with enough quantity of water to prepare a pliable dough.

Help your child to split the dough into three parts and make a shape of a circular ball for the body, a round base and head. From the dough, remove 4 elongated pieces for limbs and four small balls for the tusk, crown and ear (depending on the size.)

Take one big clay ball and flatten it with a rolling pin to make a base. Upon this flattened base, place the second big clay ball to make the body and add some more dough to the front to sculpt a round tummy.

Take the 2 elongated pieces and place them to form the legs and remaining two to form the arms. A toothpick is a safer option for your child to make any markings or design on the idol.

Take another clay ball for the head and ask your child to place it above the body. Next, ask them to add a small ball in the front to make the trunk. The trunk should be pointed in shape. To sculpt it in place firmly, ask your child to use a toothpick and smoothen it out a bit to give a firm shape.

With two small balls, place it beside the head to form elephant ears. To make it look more natural, use a toothpick for shaping and marking. Make a crown from the remaining ball and fix above the head using toothpicks. Pierce to mark the naval and eyes. Using the thin dough you can make ornaments for the idol.

To make it look attractive, use natural colours made of flower or turmeric or non-toxic paints which are easily available in the market. You can use poster colours or acrylic colours to paint your Ganesha. If you want to keep it fully natural, you can use haldi, beetroot, spinach and the likes to give natural colours to your Ganesha. Once the clay dries up, your Ganesha is ready!

Simple decoration: Homegrown flowers are the best so as to avoid any kind of infection. You can also go with crystals for decorating your Ganesha. You can also use your kids’ colourful toys to set up a mini pandal for Ganesha. Paper decorations are also very popular these days. You can also use LED lights to sparkle up the home Ganesha set-up.

Immersion: The clay idol can be easily immersed in any water body. If you immerse it in the bucket, the muddy water can also be used to water the plants.

(The author is a healer
& parenting coach)