I find working with clay to be so relaxing. Everything around me seems to melt away while I'm in the zone, squishing and rolling, moulding and building. There's something so satisfying about making something with your hands, and this activity is especially great for little hands. Working with clay helps to strengthen the muscles in little hands and fingers, and develops fine motor skills and creativity. Plus the sensation of clay just feels so good! Today, we made patterned circles, a vase and a pinch pot using air-dry clay and pieces from nature. We found our clay at Officeworks, but you can also buy it from Bunnings. For your nature pieces, you could go out on a special nature walk to collect them, or select some from your existing collection like we did. We picked things that we felt would create an interesting pattern in the clay - pine cones, seed pods, gum nuts, shells, fern leaves and a rose geranium leaf. Have some fun in finding and selecting your pieces and discussing what they are with your child. Circles and patternsTo make the circles, my son rolled out some clay and then cut out circles using a cookie cutter. He then proceeded to totally amaze himself with the different patterns he could make in the clay. It was truly beautiful to watch his face light up with wonder. Make a simple vase using the coil techniqueMy son asked if he could make a vase to hold some of his nature finds, such as feathers or leaves. For this, we used the coil technique which goes as follows:
Pinch potI made a simple pinch pot using the following steps:
What are your favourite things to make with clay?
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AuthorI am a free-spirited homeschooling mama who finds great inspiration, beauty and meaning in nature. Archives
March 2019
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