Materials:

• Sculpey III, Sculpey III Glow-in-the-Dark, and Premo! Sculpey clays
• 15 Black Pony beads for each necklace
  
• Oven thermometer
  
• Standard Oven or Confectioner's Ovens set at 240 degrees
  
• Shish kabob stick or skewer (one for each child)
  
• White labels for names
  
• Aluminum foil baking pans (disposable)
  
• Silk covered thread for necklace
  
• Cardboard covered with tin foil for work surface. Or, tape waxed paper or butcher's paper to work surface.
  
• Handi wrap plastic
  
• Optional: Ranger Rick's "Tour of the planets" Big Book
  
• Optional: NASA space pictures of each planet
  

NOTE: 3 digit color numbers are Sculpey III colors. 4 digit color numbers beginning with a "1" are Sculpey III colors. 4 digit color numbers beginning with a "5" are Premo! Sculpey colors;

Bake all beads at 240 degrees. DO NOT BAKE AT A HIGHER HEAT TO SPEED BAKING TIME. Baking clays at higher temperatures can produce a toxic gas. To prevent this, use an oven thermometer to regulate the temperature.

Preparations: Cut the pieces of Sculpey III and Premo! Sculpey into small sections for each planet. Wrap in plastic wrap to keep clean. Wrap all colors needed, for each planet, together. Each student will receive one of these packets for each planet.

Cover a small 8x11" piece of cardboard with tin foil, or cover work table area with waxed paper or butcher's paper and tape down with masking tape. This will be used to roll out your clay.

Poke holes into the sides of the aluminum foil baking dish so that you can have the shish kabob sticks or skewers sit suspended without touching each other or the sides of the dish. Have a way to transport the planets to an oven or confections oven.

Objective: Students will create a physical representation of the characteristics, colors, and special features of the nine planets in our Solar Systems as well as the Sun and the Moon.

SUN

The sun is the center of our Solar System. It should be made substantially larger than the other planets. We chose to make it with the other nine planets to show a pictorial view of our entire solar system. Colors: Sculpey III Atomic Orange 533, Sculpey III Red Hot Red 583, Premo! Sculpey Fluorescent Yellow 5600, and Sculpey III Glow-in-the-Dark Orange 433.
How to make the SUN:

1. Blend all four colors together at the same time. Soften the clay by rolling it on your cardboard covered with tin foil, or by rolling it into a ball in your hand. One of the best ways to get the "Swirl" effect is to roll out the clay into a long worm. Then slowly twist from the top down until you reach the desired swirl effect. Finally, roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Hold the ball in your left hand and gently roll the stick back and forth between your thumb and index finger. Just as the stick begins to poke through the other side STOP. Pull out the stick. Turn your bead around and gently roll the stick through the other side. (Not poking the stick all the way through the first time prevents your bead from changing shape. It maintains the round bead shape.) Have students keep turning the stick once it is through. You need to make sure that the bead is free moving across the stick. If it is not, then hold the bead and turn the stick while moving the stick forward and backward. What you are doing here is making sure you can remove the bead from the stick after baking, and to ensure that you will have a hole in the bead large enough to thread the string through.
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead. (This is if you are baking them all together and must transport them out of the room.) I had them write their initials on each planet; because I had to take all the planets home and bake them in my home oven. Skip this step if you have a convection oven in your room.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Do not overbake. It is important that you make sure that you have an oven thermometer and can tell the exact temperature of your oven. Consistency is the advantage here. Please do not touch the planets when removing them from the oven. After about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

Mercury

Mercury is the first planet from the sun. It should be made substantially smaller than the Sun. Mercury has several craters, both looking like round circles and deep slashes. Colors: Premo! Sculpey Gold 5303, Premo! Sculpey Cadmium Red 5382, Sculpey III Chocolate 053, Sculpey III Terra Cotta 352.
How to make the MERCURY:

1. Mix Chocolate and Terra Cotta together. Fold in the gold and pinch of red. Mars has several craters on it. Use the round end of the stick to poke in holes. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven, after about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and it should be made slightly larger than Mercury. Colors: Premo! Sculpey Gold 5303, Sculpey III White 001, Premo! Sculpey Red Pearl 5259, Sculpey III Beige 093.
How to make the Venus:

1. Blend the white and red together to make a light pink swirl. Blend in the gold and beige. Try to keep large areas of the color. In other words, do not mix together for too long. Time. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven. After about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the sun. It should be made slightly larger than Venus. Colors: Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Red 083, Sculpey III Blue 063, Sculpey III Glow-in-the dark Blue 465.
How to make the EARTH:

1. Blend the small pinch of white and red together to make a light pink solid. Fold this into the blue and white together. Blend together the blue and the white, add in the Glow-in-the-Dark Blue. The swirl method should be used on this planet. Don't mix too long. You want the marble look to be strong.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven. After 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the Sun and Pluto.

Moon

The Moon is the only moon to our planet Earth. It should be substantially smaller than the Earth with numerous craters. Colors: Sculpey III Silver 1130, Premo! Sculpey 5129.
How to make the Moon:

1. Blend both colors of silver together. Roll into a ball. This should be smaller than the Earth substantially. Use the round end of the stick to make several craters in the moon. Re-Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven, after about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools to long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It should be made slightly smaller than Earth. Special features are the two polar ice caps at the North and South Pole, Valles Marineris (Giant crater). Colors: Sculpey III Terra Cotta 352, Sculpey III Chocolate 053, Sculpey III Blue 063.
How to make the MARS:

1. Blend the Terra Cotta and Chocolate together, with the emphasis on the Terra Cotta. If it is not red enough for you, you may blend in some Red 083. The Valles Marineris is a large crater running horizontally on the side of the bead. Use the stick to push in a large dent. Roll into a ball. Finally, roll a very small ball of blue and use the stick to adhere the Polar Ice caps to the North and South of the bead. This texturing helps it look like polar ice caps. Be careful not to roll the ball too much after you add the ice caps and the crater or you will lose the effect.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. Run the stick through in the same direction as the crater, which allows you to see the ice caps on top and bottom. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead, on the backside of the crater.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven. After about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

JUPITER

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It should be made larger than the Earth. Jupiter has rings, and the Giant Red spot. Colors: Premo! Sculpey Gold 5303, Sculpey III Chocolate 053, Sculpey III Beige 093, Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Red 083, Premo! Sculpey III Glow-in-the dark 5703.
How to make the Jupiter:

1. Mix Chocolate, Gold, Beige and pinch of White. Leaving as much marbled effect as possible. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball. Use beige, red, Glow-in-the-Dark to roll out a long, thick worm. Flatten out the worm and wrap around the ball. Use the pointed end of the stick to gently push edges toward the bead. You want to make sure that the ring touches the ball all the way around. Pinch the ring so that it is the same thickness all the way around.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. You should place on the stick above the ring, in the same horizontal direction as the rings. (See above for details). Then place a small pink dot on the side for the Giant Red Spot. Mix together a few left over pieces to give the center of your Giant red spot some color.
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven, after about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

SATURN

Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun. It should be made twice as large as Earth but smaller than the sun. Saturn has rings too, only they should be made wider than those of Jupiter. Colors: Premo! Sculpey Gold 5303, Sculpey III Beige 093, Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Red 083, Premo! Sculpey Glow-in-the-Dark 5703. Rings: Sculpey III Blue 063, Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Beige 093, Sculpey III Translucent 010, Purple 513, Glow-in-the-Dark blue, Premo! Sculpey Glow-in-the-Dark 5703.
How to make the Saturn:

1. Mix Gold, Beige and pinch of white. Leaving as much marbled effect as possible. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball. Use beige, translucent, blue purple, white, and Glow-in-the-Dark to roll out a long, thick worm. Flatten out the worm and wrap around the ball. Use the pointed end of the stick to gently push edges toward the bead. You want to make sure that the ring touches the ball all the way around. Pinch the ring so that it is the same thickness all the way around.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. You should place on the stick at a diagonal. The stick should go in above the rings on one side, and exit below the rings on the other side. This allows the bead to be strung at an angle. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the head.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven. After about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

URANUS

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It should be made smaller than the Earth. Uranus also has rings, but we chose not to put them on. Colors: Sculpey III Teal 305, Sculpey III Green pearl 1015, Sculpey III Green Glow-in-the-Dark 422.
How to make Uranus:

1. Blend all three colors together. You want more of a solid color and less marble effect here. This is accomplished by mixing together longer. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven. After about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

NEPTUNE

Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun. It should be made smaller Mercury. Colors: Sculpey III Silver 1130, Sculpey III Black 042, Sculpey III Blue 063, Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Blue Pearl 1008, Sculpey III Glow-in-the-Dark Blue 465.
How to make the NEPTUNE:

1. Mix pearl blue and white together thoroughly creating a light blue. Fold this into the remaining colors and create the marble effect. You want to mix for awhile, but not until it is a solid color. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven, after about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools too long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

PLUTO

Pluto is the ninth planet from the sun. It should be made the smallest of all the planets. Colors: Sculpey III Blue 063, Sculpey III White 001, Sculpey III Blue Pearl 1008, Sculpey III Glow-in-the-Dark Blue 465.
How to make the NEPTUNE:

1. Mix Pearl blue, regular blue and white together creating a lighter blue. You want a solid color here with little to no swirls. Save a pinch of blue and a small pinch of white. Roll into a ball.
2. Gently roll the ball around in a circle, changing directions so as not to get a diamond shaped ball. Take a small pinch of blue and roll into a tiny ball. Place it on the blue bead. Push gently. Roll out a very thin white worm and push onto the blue ball above the blue piece you just place on there. These are characteristics seen on the NASA pictures.
3. Gently mount ball on the stick. (See above for details).
4. Have students poke their initials into the bead.
5. Bake bead at 240 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove from oven, after about 10 minutes cooling, remove bead from stick. If the bead cools to long on the stick it will be difficult to get off.
6. Have each student find their planet and string it onto their necklace. We place a black pony bead between each planet, with two beads on the outside of the sun and Pluto.

When your necklace is complete you may choose to add some additional beads in between so that the necklaces has the desired spacing. We tried to have the students make black bead themselves, but it was difficult to get the same size bead. Required fine motor skills they did not have. This year we will make small beads (slightly smaller than Pluto) out of the clear Glow-in-the-Dark clay. I think this will give an added feature to the necklace.

Enjoy! If you would like further information regarding the curriculum used to study each planet, please feel free to contact me at:

vhallof@earthlink.net or
Vicki Hallof
Westwood Elementary School
435 Saratoga Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050