- Is this poop?
- It's Play-Doh?
- It smells! It smells!
- This is messy. This is dough.
- It's slimy!
- It's clay!
with their hands...
and with all their might!
Before a formal study at the Discovery Table, we frequently begin with a period of experimentation. Children did indeed smell, squeeze, grip, grab, pinch, poke, roll, press, elbow, lift, and play with the clay. Some enjoyed the sheer sensory experience of squeezing and ripping something that does not easily yield ("Crunch! Crunch!" "Squeeze, squeeze!"). Others tried to lift the whole lump ("This is heavyyy!). Some immediately turned to modeling figures ("This is a lion. This is the mane."). And others created a scenario ("It's a seed. It growed. And a storm came! And it got muddy-doughy!")
Clay is also a marvelous medium for increasing fine-motor hand strength and dexterity. Several children were surprised that their thumbs could poke more readily than their pointer-fingers. Some discovered that the heel of the hand -- with the added power from the arm -- was very effective. Trying to pull a piece off the lump took several attempts, and working the small pieces back into the lump before washing up...
was an activity in itself!
What can your child tell you about clay?
