Friday Group - Clay Slabs

Sometimes less is more. One thing I noticed with the Wednesday group is that there were too many items on the table. This seemed overwhelming and distracting so with the Friday group I only set out two of each item to highlight the clay as the main attraction and lessen the visual impact of all the other items. This week Hannah experienced the clay for the first time and Kaia spent the longest time at the clay or any wet, sticky-like material to date. As I watched Kaia spend a significant amount of time interacting with the clay I wondered what changed? I mentioned to her mother my delight in Kaia's progress with the clay and she recounted that they had watched the videos on the blog right before they came. Watching the videos and talking with the children about what they are doing is exactly what the blog is designed for. The more children see themselves reflected in pictures and videos the more they can relive, re-examine, and further their explorations (read more about this in my blog entry Using the Blog with your Child). Even watching the other children work with a material gives children new ideas and theories to test. Kaia begins her exploration with the hammer, if you listen she says "picture Kaia, picture Kaia" as she is making the connection to what she did in the past (through the video she saw) and what she is doing now.

Kaia is still concerned with the clay on her skin. Sebastien notices this interaction and after she wipes her hand he does the same. A little while later, Kaia uses the end of the hammer to make "dots" or round indentations in the clay but when she turns the hammer over she notices clay on the end. We let her know that she can wipe it on the same towel she wiped her hands on and she proceeds to do so. Sebastien makes "dots" of his own, following Kaia's lead, and then also goes to wipe off his hammer. What is nice about this interaction is that Kaia is moving out of her comfort zone and Sebastien is trying out her way of interacting with the clay. Sebastien is the most uninhibited in his work with the clay, trying out all the different tools. I think he is enjoying having Kaia interact with the clay differently: this increases his own awareness of the properties of clay and it's feeling on his skin.



Hannah dove right into the clay and interacted with it in a variety of ways. She started with the sponges, proceeds to use the hammer but moves it a novel way, back and forth on its side. She also tested out the "dot" method and finally dug her hands into it, having a little taste along the way. Hannah always keeps one eye on what everyone is doing and yet continues her exploration, leaving no stone unturned. In fact as time went on she tried to lift the slab of clay off the table.