Shiny Mudballs

It's a thing that kids do in Japan - make these amazing Shiny Mudballs - spending hour after hour forming and polishing their mudballs until they become spheres of reflective perfection. Elementary school kids, kindergarteners, pre-schoolers. So this guy, Professor Fumio Kayo of the Kyoto University of Education, decides to study this phenomenon. According to the article, the professor believes that learning about these Shiny Mudballs and the kids who make them will reveal the essence of child's play.

In the mean time, he has come up with the very thing you were most hoping for - a concise set of instructions for the making thereof. The article says:
"Through 200 failed experiments and an analysis using an electron microscope, Kayo was finally able to devise a method of making dorodango that could be followed by anyone, including children." And here, at last, the good professor's findings:

1. Pack some mud into your hand, and squeeze out the water while forming a sphere.
2. Add some dry dirt to the outside and continue to gently shape the mud into a sphere.
3. When the mass dries, pack it solid with your hands, and rub the surface until a smooth film begins to appear.
4. Rub your hands against the ground, patting and rubbing the fine, powdery dirt onto the sphere. Continue this for two hours.
5. Seal the ball in a plastic bag for three or four hours. Upon removing the sphere, repeat step 4, and then once again seal the sphere in a plastic bag.
6. Remove the ball from the bag, and if it is no longer wet, polish it with a cloth until it shines.

Practice, practice, practice, and soon, you will develop a vast respect for childhood, and Japanese children, and mud.

Thanks for the link go to the inimitable Roger Greenaway.