Baby's hand

Someone mentioned, lately, needing ideas for projects for the senior citizens. Here's an idea, I think they would like.

Have a 'baby's hand' day and bring the grandchildren. What you will need is an empty coffee can (1#), some plaster,water and hydrogel. You can order hydrogel from polytek.com

Hydrogel is a molding material made from sea weed (harmless). When mixed with water, it quickly forms a soft mold. It has to be used within minutes, as the hydrogel then begins to dry out and shrink.

Have the child push their hand down into the freshly mixed hydrogel. They must then hold the hand very still for about 5 minutes, while the gel sets up. Then all they have to do is wiggle their little fingers and slide right out of the gel.

Then mix up a cup of plaster and pour it into the new mold, formed by the childs hand. After about 20 minutes, you can tear away the molding material to reveal the exact replica of the childs hand.

It's a neat beginning to yet other project ideas: such as mounting the new form on a base attached to a framed photo, or something like that.

With hydrogel, once you've experienced it, you'll come up with a whole slew of ideas for its use.