The Atelier – The Language of Clay

The Language of CLAY

“Children have an innate need to inquire into the world around them, to try to make sense of it and learn about it. Often this important inquiry takes place in children’s play.” Almon and Miller, 2011

Nothing lights up the brain like PLAY. The children were invited to ‘play’ with this wonderful material that works so gracefully in the hands of the creator. These experiences help the children develop a predictable cognitive sequence they can apply when they encounter anything new: to observe, question, explore, reflect and repeat, to develop understandings about materials and their possibilities.

First, the children got their aprons on. They helped each other with the challenging velcro strips and moved over to choose their clay.

Then, the children prepared their spaces for research. They chose table top potters wheels, a number of clay tools, wet sponges and rolling pins. The child sized potions of damp clay were wrapped in wet cloths and kept in a plastic tub to maintain the texture.

Time is of great value. The children were given plenty of time to explore the clay. They used their fingers and tools to dig, pat, poke, roll, crumble and mould the clay.

Children need to have time to be confident with the materials so that they have time to formulate hypotheses and then test their hypotheses. 

After an extended period of play, the children were invited to use the tools and materials at their fingertips to create clay portraits. They had previously used card and black-line markers to create self-portraits. They looked carefully at their sketches and were excited to use a different medium to create their own clay models.  

 

When it was time to clean up, the children worked together to wash the tools and clear away the resources and materials they had used. Maker-centered learning experiences give children agency and empower them to take responsibility over their own learning. 

We will continue to explore the possibilities of this wonderful, creative and versatile material. 

Through these experiences, the children had opportunities to:

  • engage with, and enjoy a variety of visual arts experiences
  • select tools, materials and processes for specific purposes
  • use their imagination and experiences to inform their art making

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