By Mary Munday, Head Teacher
“Look! I made a snake!” A child exclaimed as he began to roll another piece of clay in the Twos classroom. “I made a daddy snake! I made a daddy snake and a baby snake!” He held up his rolled-up clay to show the teacher.
Clay is one of the five basic, open-ended materials (the others being blocks, paint, sand and water) that are always available in the classroom at Bing. In the beginning of the school year in the Twos, children stopped by the clay table for a short time—some children touching it and saying “eww” while others curiously pushed and poked the material that provides sensory input. Comments such as “It’s cold” and “It’s squishy” came up. Later a child discovered that squeezing the clay could make a squelching sound. This brought laughter to the table and encouraged others to try it. Children pounded the clay and realized they could make it flat with their fist. They could break it off into small pieces or use a large piece and pinch, pull, poke or pat it. Others stood up to use their whole bodies as they pounded the clay with both hands. While the children continued to investigate clay, they used senses of sight, hearing and touch.
Further benefits of manipulating clay include the increased development of large and small muscle groups, thus enhancing dexterity. The activity fosters eye-hand coordination and helps build a child’s attention span. Children’s hands-on experimentation with the material allows them to grasp the material’s properties. Additionally, clay invites children to expand the use of their receptive and expressive language skills through listening and responding to open-ended questions.
As the children began to discover the limitless possibilities of this open-ended material, they began to stay at the clay table longer. Children expanded their use of the material from exploration, to experimentation, to imaginative play. The clay table is adjacent to a play kitchen, so it was no surprise that the theme of food and cooking commonly arose in their play. They made pizzas, pastas, soups and muffins of clay and placed them in the oven to cook. Taking the cooked meals out, with a potholder, of course, the children shared their delicacies with their peers and teachers. Peer relationships began to form as they cooked and dined together.
As cooking with clay became a daily activity, children asked for knives. Teachers had preferred to begin this new experience with the children utilizing the best tool of all—their hands! But as their work became more involved, adding a few tools was the next step. In addition, children who may have been hesitant to try the material with their hands initially began to explore with the tools. The children discovered they could cut the clay into multiple sizes and shapes. They could keep the pieces separate, stack them, lay them side by side or join them together into something completely new.
Each day, the ways the children interacted with clay transformed. Teachers introduced a few more tools, and the children found, to their surprise, that tools could stand straight up out of the clay without any support from hands. Soon many tools were standing upright stuck into the clay. The children used the tools to make marks and indentations in the clay, creating various textures. They also told stories as they worked with the clay. In one story, for example, daddy snakes and baby snakes were playing together while pizza was being served to all the children at the table. “Would you like a piece?” a child offered.
Teachers explained to the children how to roll the clay long into coils or into balls. Children practiced this on the table or between the palms of both hands. They explored various techniques and soon the long rolled pieces became snakes covering the table. Next, they formed balls as teachers demonstrated an alternate technique for rolling the clay.
Shaping clay and building three-dimensional objects empowered the children. The material’s soft and responsive nature fascinated them and motivated them to see what else they could do with it. It is a rich material that gives sensory input, can constantly change, and can turn an autonomous experience into a social one. As the children continue to explore the medium, we look forward to the new ideas and discoveries they will experience with this versatile material.