All of the boys love to do art and crafts, but if the younger two are having a nap after school then Mr Z really loves the chance to do something a bit more advanced with just me and him, so when choosing art supplies to review from Hobbycraft this Create Your Own Racer plaster of paris kit jumped out at me as something that he would definitely enjoy.

The kit is for age 5 years and upwards and includes:

A bag of plaster to be mixed with water before using

A race car shaped mould

Axels and wheels to add

A strip of paints in 6 colours

A small paint brush

I remember enjoying making Plaster of Paris models when I was younger, and this was Mr Z’s first time moulding with plaster so we were both excited to get going.

Mr Z was able to mix the plaster with a little help from me: Once the plaster was poured into the mould, we let it set for 24 hours and came back to it the next day to paint.

The shape of the car looked great once removed from the mould, especially when we added the wheels. Mr Z couldn’t wait to get started on painting!

There is an idea for a design shown on the front of the packet, and if that was followed carefully then I think the results would be really effective! However with my kids, they like to make up their own designs and as long as they are happy then I let them – I tell myself it is more about the process than the result! Mr Z really enjoyed mixing the different colours together to see what it would make and then painting his special mixtures onto the car. He was very pleased with it and said his car looks so awesome. The colours he has ended up with look quite Halloweeny so atleast it is seasonal 😀

Again we left this for 24 hours just to make sure the paint was fully dried, then it was finished and ready to be displayed in the playroom.

This was a lovely activity for Mr Z and I would definitely do more plaster models with him again as he really enjoyed it. The plaster mix is not recommended for under 3s to handle so it is not one for the younger siblings to join in with. The mould from this kit can be reused again, so I will definitely be keeping that for the future. I did find that the plaster mix we made was more than needed for one model, so if we had a spare mould perhaps we could have got an extra model out of it.

This kit would be a handy birthday gift for any child turning 5 or older, and also a handy activity to have in the cupboard for rainy days.