Friday Group - Colored Dough with Natural Materials and Wire

There is something very attractive about brightly colored dough. The natural colored dough wasn't explored near as long as the colored dough by the children. The dough is homemade (just not by me - check out etsy.com) with organic natural materials. It is so soft, squishy and the colors are rich and look good enough to eat. Not only were the children drawn to the vibrant dough but the natural materials and wire also captivated their attention. This was the first time Sebastien figured out how to actually place the wire deep into the dough although he pulls it out immediately. Kaia takes notice and tries it out for herself.

Next Kaia carefully makes holes with one of the sticks. Sebastien has his own interpretation of the same motion.



Kaia can't resist the dough and gives it a squeeze. I was so surprised to see her touch the dough in this manner as she has usually been very wary of the dough and clay in the past.



Sebastien brings out the cookie cutters that are displayed on a shelf along with other tools the children can use with the dough. This action brings him a lot of satisfaction in his exploration of the dough.



Bryce engaged with the dough last week and I was interested to see if the colored dough would work its magic on him as it did the rest of the children. Bryce surprised me by being drawn to the wire and spent his time exploring the wire as he took it out or dumped it out of the container and then placed it back again.



During the next playgroup session we began a new exploration but I was happy to see Kaia initiate the use of the dough by pulling it off of the shelf and bringing to the table. This caught the attention of Sebastien and Hannah. Hannah had missed the exploration of dough in the previous two sessions but engages with the material right away and is much more detailed in her use of it. She uses her fingers to work the dough, uses a tool to cut it, pretends to eat it, and uses her sense of smell as well.

Friday Group - Dough

The Friday Group's first exploration of dough at playgroup was slow to warm. Kaia and Sebastien started out strong, exploring the tools with the dough but the duration of the experience was very short for Kaia. Just as she was warming up to the clay, the dough seemed to throw her off a bit.

Sebastien continued his exploration of the dough, concentration on the cutting motion. He is really trying to hold the dough with one hand and use the knife with the other to get a clean cut through the dough. It's not quite as easy for little toddler hands.



Bryce takes more of an interest in the materials this week and is drawn to Sebastien's cutting exploraiton. He is, however, not too sure about the dough.



As time goes on Bryce returns to the dough and gives it another chance, using the knife in his own way.

Wednesday Group - Dough, Wire, and Natural Materials

I'm falling a little behind on my blog entries but better late than never... During the last session with dough I included sticks, natural materials and wire along with some brightly colored dough. The children were very attracted to the colored dough and spent a great deal of time working with the material, leaving to play but coming back to the dough again and again. Caleb's exploration of the dough aided both Sebastien and Zadie in trying new ideas with the dough.

Sebastien then takes the one stick placed into the dough and expands on the action by adding more sticks into the dough ball.



Theo and Max explore the natural materials further.



Max also continues his gravity exploration. This time he is testing the actual objects like sticks and a roller by both banging and dropping them.



The dough also made it's way into other areas of the play space, becoming a prop or a companion.



Lastly, the dough allowed for two friends to work together on the same piece of dough. As Caleb begins his work on one mound of dough and leaves to get another tool, Sebastien continues to work the same piece. The two boys then momentarily work together before Caleb turns his attention to another mound of dough. What I found interesting was there was no conflict over the dough but a simple camaraderie in working so closely together.

Wednesday Group - Dough

Just as the children are getting into clay, I decide switch it up and introduce dough. Play dough is much easier to mold than clay and I wanted to give the children a chance to experience the difference. I placed several different types of tools to use with the clay including, wooden knives, large wooden scrapers (which can also cut) and wooden biscuit cutters. I also made the dough and did not color it so that the children would first get to know the properties of dough before focusing on colors. Sebastien loves dough and was very excited to have his friends experience it with him. With all the experience he has with the dough (he has access to it at all times) I was surprised that he spent the majority of time watching how his friends interacted with the dough. He did get in some quality time cutting the clay, if you listen closely you can hear him say "cut it" as he slices it with the wooden knife.

Zadie touched, squeezed and practiced cutting the dough. She seemed to be more intrigued by the dough than the clay as she interacted with the dough longer and in more ways than with the clay.



Max is fully focused on the physics of clay and dough. As his interest lies in round objects (balls), he tests out some fundamental gravity and object property theories. What happens when I drop this item? Does it bounce? Watch as Max asks the basic question (dat? - what is this?) and then tries to uncover the mystery of dough.



Throughout the clay explorations, Theo had kept his distance. The dough was no different. Theo, like Bryce works the entire play space and has some favorite games he likes to play. During this session he revisited the hide in the tunnel game and when he was ready to get out encountered a problem. I give him some verbal help to get himself out of the tunnel. Theo did venture close to the dough as he rode around on the bike ride. He stopped to watch his mother interact with the clay. Observing closely and responding to her as she worked the dough, he still kept his distance.



Caleb and Theo's interaction with the clay reminded me of the importance of parental involvement. As much as I want the children to explore items without adult interference, sometimes having a more capable peer (in this case mom) engaged with the material brings renewed interest and further exploration. The following video is long and what you don't see is how Niko, Caleb's mom, sat down with the dough and began working it into small balls and other shapes (I believe they were making cupcakes). As Caleb reengaged with the dough, Niko slowly moved to the peripheral and let him take over. This lead to an elaborate exploration of the dough. Caleb stacked and made holes in the clay that were purposeful and deliberate.   

Friday Group - Clay with Natural Materials and Wire

After watching the Wednesday group engage in the clay with the wire and natural materials, I was excited to see how the Friday group would respond to these materials as well. This session was the longest that Kaia, Sebastien, and Hannah spent exploring the clay. Bryce didn't quite make it to the clay (the picture above is the one glance he took at the clay) as his time at group was not as long as usual and he didn't get through all his favorite activities before he eventually noticed the experience set out. Using the wire, sticks, and tools with the clay equally held the attention of the children. Sebastien explored the wire separate from the clay while Kaia poked the wire into the clay. Hannah figured out very quickly that if you held the wire near the end and place it in the clay it would stay stuck in the clay (you have to watch carefully and beyond Sebastien to she her try this).

Both with the wire and the clay Kaia is very selective in her choice of which piece to use while Sebastien is more action oriented.



The tools I provided with the clay are the tools that a sculptor would use to manipulate his work of art. I think it is important that young children be exposed to the actual tools that artists use and not "dumbed" down versions of the real thing. As time goes on and they begin to move into more sophisticated ways of using the clay, they can be shown what they are used for. However, Kaia and Sebastien figure out that the wooden scraper can slice, poke, and smooth the clay without any instruction.

Hannah was the first to begin to mold the clay in her hands. The little pieces of clay that she would dig out of the clay slabs were then used to move back and fourth in her hands. This is an exciting step in development: with the ability to mold and shape the clay comes the ability to use it as a mode of expression, not just exploration.

Wednesday Group - Clay with Natural Material and Wire

Sticks, wire, and eucalyptus seeds were presented with the clay this week in addition to a few clay tools. The children were intrigued by the new materials and explored the clay using them. Although the tools and other materials presented with the clay gave the children a buffer to actually touching the clay, they are becoming more comfortable working the clay with just their hands.

The natural materials were used to stick, poke, pound, and press into the clay. When I presented natural materials with the contact paper the children were not very interested in them as a means to express themselves but with the clay they were more willing to manipulate and explore their uses with the clay.



The wire was another material that I was curious as to how the children would approach and use in conjunction with the clay. This is the first time I have presented the children with wire and although they couldn't quite get the wire to stand freely in the clay, they did enjoy exploring it and using it to poke the clay.



What was nice about this session's experience was there was something for everyone, and each child could explore clay with a variety of materials. The tools added another layer of exploration to the experience and a connection to the previous week's exploration.