Clay and Friends

After nap I took out our big block of clay and invited everyone over to explore.  I talked about what I noticed as we began to explore the cold, smooth surface.  We poked fingers, made roads and trenches, but the most fun was pinching off small pieces and showing each other.   



 
 GW pulls off a bigger piece and hands it out towards SC.  "Have?" he says, "Have!  Yeah.  Moi?"  SC nodded and took the piece from GW.  This passing back and forth happened a few more times and soon everyone was handing each other pieces.  A few times the pieces were quickly revoked before being passed with a firm "No!", and then we talked about what it means to offer somebody something.  It was a great chance to talk about how good if feels to share and offer things we love to our friends, but if you would like to keep something it's a good idea not to offer.  We practiced a few times more and everyone was really enjoying the give and take. 
Soon the children were standing up and moving the pieces around on the sheet I had spread out to protect the floor.  T decided to see what would happen if he used his feet and toes, which was inspiring to everyone else.

 

Using clay as a medium for social exploration is inspiring to me as well.  It's one of the many benefits of offering open ended, process based art projects.  My intention for this activity was very different from theirs and it was a great way for the children to explore their individual social interests.  Yes, we were playing with clay, but truly we were playing with who we are together, friends who can trust each other.