Thrusday Group - 1st Clay Encounter

Besides Sebastien, the other children in the group took some time to warm up to the clay and even then they weren't too sure about it. When it was first put out for the children you can see Sebastien trying to get the other children's attention to come over to the clay.

It really took me getting into the clay myself to draw the children closer to the clay. This made it more difficult to document their experiences since my hands were covered in clay. However, once the children engaged more with the clay I was able to step back and observe their interactions with the clay more thoroughly. I was particularly struck by the introduction of a tool by Xavier, which becomes a sought after object and then adds a new layer to the experience allowing the children to explore the clay in a different way.

Max ran through a multitude of ways to explore the clay. Watch as he pinches, scrapes, pats, tastes, scratches, grabs, shakes and tries to wipe the clay. He even gives up a ball to get both hands into the clay.

Although the clay doesn't quite have the wow factor that painting does, I feel like this first encounter was appropriate for the children and I have a few thoughts on how to change up the clay to highlight it's presence and entice children to interact more with it.

The Rope Bin

The Rope Bin was inspired by two events. The first being Sebastien loves when I wrap gifts and this is because the bin full of wrapping accessories, bows, ribbon, string, tissue paper, etc. is left open for him to explore while I quickly try and wrap a gift. He will pull out, drag about, and swing around any of the ribbon, yarn, or string that is in there. During our most recent gift wrapping session he pulled out a long piece of purple rope ribbon and began dragging it around the house and putting it in his boat as well as other containers. I decided to let it say out of the bin to just see what he would do with it. Well, it became a popular item which tipped me off that these types of materials might take over the discovery bin after we move on from the balls. The second inspiration came from watching Sebastien pull around his caterpillar on a string. He loved having it follow him around and he was so happy to look back and see that it was there.

I scoured the house for any rope/ribbon like material to add to the bin. I also bought some climbing rope of different sizes and lengths. Within in the bin there were also a few balls of yarn. I also made sure there were some short, long, and every length in between items in the bin. In the end it is full of things to pull, drag, wrap, swing, shake, and bite.

Introducing Clay

Ready to move on from painting for a little bit, I was excited to introduce clay to the children. I presented the clay in one large twenty-five pound block on the floor. I expected the size and three dimensional shape to attract the children to this strange object so I opted to keep the it in a large block and not break it into small sections. I expected the children to pinch, poke, pat, taste, scratch, grab, try to push and dig into the clay. I also had hoped they would bring objects over to the clay to see how the clay would respond to an object being pushed into it.

I like introducing clay to children before the traditional playdough because playdough is very easy to mold and clay needs to be worked a bit more. However, the easily moldable playdough is not as responsive to sculpting and creating something that can be structurally sound. Playdough crumbles easily when dry and does not show intricate finger markings or lines made to create details on a sculpture. Since clay is not as easy to mold if it is introduced after playdough children sometimes get frustrated that the clay doesn't mold as easily and therefore continue to prefer playdough even though playdough is not as conducive to expressing ideas and languages when children are older. Clay is also a medium that, as children grow into adults, can still be used as a creative medium.

Friday Group - Painting with Red & Yellow

Another fun day of painting. Xavier joined us on this particular Friday as well as Kaia's dad, Erik. My elusive painter Kaia again skirted the edges and found her mother's lap and the water bottle comforting as she watched Sebastien, Xavier, and Bryce paint. Her little feet (pictured below) managed to show the paint she acquired as she walked by the painting.

Sebastien, Xavier, and Bryce continue their exploration of painting by using techniques that they have practiced in the past. Bryce gets his feet and legs into motion as he tries to maneuver around a tempera cake. He also gets musical with the painting containers.

Xavier continues his purposeful marks on the canvas. He really concentrates on getting the paint on the canvas and brush even with a lot of activity around him, he is really focused.


Sebastien practices his stacking of the containers and tempera cakes as he did the week before.