Ball, Slab, Coil

This week the children have been practicing molding the clay into specific shapes. There is a special way of rolling -- around and around -- that will make a lump of clay into... a ball.

Balls can become snowmen (SophiAna), eyeballs (Teddy), or American footballs (Ezra).

First we use our mitten hands to shape the clay and then our strong high-five hands to roll the clay into a ball.

Balls can also become -- if you flatten them with the heel of your hand -- a slab.
Slabs can become grass (Sierra), a nest (Elli), tires (Trixie) or a plate (SophiAna).

Shapes can be further manipulated. One shape can be attached to another... to make a worm in the garden (Theo), a butterfly (Sierra), a car (Eliza) or a bird (Gavin). 

Creating even shapes requires tactile awareness as well as small muscle coordination.  Certain shapes like balls and coils require using both hands in motion. Working with clay offers more resistance and requires more finger strength than playdough. Our play is building these muscles.

To test the balls the children made, Ms Buckley brought a plank to use as a ramp. If the ball was round, it would roll down the ramp without help. This challenge gave the children an added incentive in their clay work. Some children rolled the ball several times to perfect the shape. Once the challenge was met each child had time for free play with the clay.