Making Amulets from Play Dough

It's no secret that we all need a little luck and protection sometimes.  Suspicious old ancestors used to wear or carry amulets and trinkets designed to ward off evil... but were they so old and superstitious?  Look around, and there's still plenty of people wearing plenty of protective talismans to bring them peace, symbols that remind them to be grateful, graceful, compassionate or kind.
While sculpting a blob of black play-dough the other day, Mimi fashioned herself her own good luck charm.

{Of course, that's my word for her craft, not hers.  She called it a biscuit, but it also looks a little like a hot cross bun... which gives me another idea for an Easter blog-post... but let's set these small details aside for a moment.}
Making amulets out of play-dough, would be a great party craft for tweens to get them in a historical mood.  Here's how to make an amulet from clay:

• Hand out a lump of air-drying clay to each child.
• Roll a ball.  
• Flatten it into a disc.
• Use sticks to poke holes around the edge or across the middle of the disc.
• Add gold buttons or beads as the finishing touch.
• Optional - poke a hole all the way through at the top so that it will be able to be worn on a ribbon as jewelry when it is dry.
• Leave it to dry until the guest goes home, and encourage them to let it dry overnight before wearing or carrying it about.

Of course, you can do this yourself right now, party or no, and simply hand your children the remnants of marbled black-brown play-dough that was otherwise destined for the dump, and tell them to make biscuits... after all... who says that the occasional biscuit can't bring good luck?