As we end our fourth week of summer (yes it has been a whole month!!) we are beginning to see stronger bonds being built amongst the children and a sense of routine and confidence. The children are becoming more familiar with materials and with one another as they build on learning and inquire through weekly provocations. We as classroom facilitators have been intentionally building on a continuum of learning and have seen they children discover and make their own conclusions through the study of materials.
Clay
For two weeks we have been exposing our children to clay. Clay gives us open ended opportunities for learning and inquiry. When introducing clay it is of the essence to build slowly. We started only with clay for an entire week and have observed children develop their own ideas and techniques to mold and change the clay. Clay gives us a diverse tool for exploring an ever changing material. It has been beautiful to watch each child explore the clay using their own personal interpretations.
Young child exploring clay block.