How can I make cookie cutters without using metal?

EDIT Just looked and saw a some boxes you should be able to do the ones that you get cereal and things like that and hopefully it would work better than the package foam.

The lists that I have found and are at the bottom of this message may not help but of course I did not have time to check them out. If they don 't help ask the children to ask their parents if they saved any of the plastic that is put around items that are shipped. This can work but they would have to make the outside of the cookie shape so it won't break but you can put scotch tape around it and that may keep it from breaking up.

How to Sculpt With Chicken Wire | eHow.com

Plastic cable ties; Show ... easier to bend into shapes but has less overall strength. The smaller 1-inch gauge is tougher to bend and shape but will support more weight.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5635113_sculpt-chicken-wir... - Cached

plastic bend suppliers and plastic bend manufacturers info ...

Details: ninety degree elbow light weight ,,low ... Plastic bend usually involves changing the shape of sheet plastic or incorporating angles into rigid plastic tubing for ...

http://www.seekpart.com/.../flanges/plastic+bend.h... - Cached

How To Shuffle Cards - Plastic vs. paper playing cards

Plastic cards are easier to handle and shuffle. They bend back into shape better than a paper ... cut card and a weight on top of your unused cards also helps! Plastic cards ...

http://www.howtoshuffle.com/playing-cards-paper-vs... - Cached

Bending Beams of Light - Utah Education Network

Cover one end with clear plastic. Secure with rubber band. Press plastic to form a bowl shape. ... of other ways to break up light into ... for objects at home that bend light ...

http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=162... - Cached

Guide to forming plastic rigid foam - THAI PLASTIC WOOD. PVC ...

There are many methods of forming plastic into bends or ... very useful for assembly work due to its light weight and ... that can be achieved by using heat to shape bend or ...

http://www.thai-plastic-wood.com/forming-plastic.h... - Cached

PLASTICS

Theoretically, any linear plastic can be made into a ... of design, high strength, and light weight ... It will return to its original shape when released. Continue to bend ...

http://www.sdplastics.com/plastics.html - Cached

Properties of Materials - Tech it Out. Everything for Design ...

Are you going to put a lot of weight on top of ... Properties of Materials can be divided into ... of materials not to permanently change shape. Some materials become plastic ...

http://www.techitoutuk.com/knowledge/materials/mat... - Cached

Cars of the Future: Plastic Makes Perfect? - Automotive ...

Automotive Engineers Bend New Materials into ... reinforced plastics into virtually any shape. The materials are both strong and light ... significantly reduce the weight ...

http://www.aip.org/dbis/stories/2006/15132.html

I made bendable metal cutters for 3-4 year olds one year as a play-design activity with modeling clay (or maybe "play dough"--can't remember). They weren't a safety issue at all, and had no problems even with the more impulsive/etc types.

The idea was for them to be able to bend the round cutters to any shape they wanted, and some did. Many were too young for that and just used them as is on the clay.

To make each cutter, I cut aluminum flashing into about 1" strips or maybe a bit narrower. Then I covered the "top" rim of each with colored masking tape, and joined the ends to create a circle.

I think I may have just used more tape for the join but now I know that probably 2-part epoxy (20-30 min set will be strongest) or another strong glue or double-sided tape would have done the job.

The doubled area showed a bit when pressed into the clay but the kids didn't care at all (and if your "clay" is dough and edible, each cutout would swell enough during baking to get rid of that anyway).

The cutting edge/rim of the flashing was sufficient for modeling clay (or dough) though might have to show them how to wiggle the cutter after pressing in but before removing it to get the cleanest edges, but the cutter rim wasn't really *sharp* at all.

The hardest part of this is cutting the flashing if you have a *bunch* to do. I used an old rotary cutter on a self-healing mat along with a thick metal straight edge, but hard on hand/wrist after awhile.

Have to run, but will probably come back in a few minutes with more ideas?

Okay, so not too many occur to me that would be food friendly, but:

...buy cheap cookie cutters that are round, or if another shape bend them to round

...someone suggested metal mini-blind slats, with felt on the top

...some kinds of craft metal sheets (for embossing, etc) are pretty malleable, but wider strips of it could be folded over for more strength

...maybe brass shim stock from hobby or some hardware stores would work

...strips of some metal sheeting, or almost anything that's somewhat stiff and flexible, could work if one side were embedded in a clay, etc, to hold the shape...would have to be gentle when using though since not enough time to harden the hardenable ones . . . or maybe could embed in a puddle of hot glue since that would harden quickly?

...if you could afford it, thermoplastics like ShapeLock can be softened in hot water then quickly shaped before cooling

...some kinds of plastic sheeting would bend but wouldn't be capable of multiple bends

...if you had an oven and enough time, polymer clay can be cut into strips then formed before baking

...if you had more time, cutters could also be created with some of the play doughs and other air-dry clays

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