Creativity with clay abounds

This was a great day for mushing and mashing to start off the new year. Every class did clay projects and did very well with them.   The kindergarten class made animals using salt clay and chenille stem pieces. They are quite detailed for  5 year olds with no example to follow except their imaginations. 

The 1st grade helped make their own salt clay then was free to create any item using the clay. Lots of  nests, snakes and a good bit of clay play before the end of the period. It was interesting to have them participate in the clay making. The dough made up pretty well and captured their interest as it went from solid to liquid to a soft solid. Nice science type project. 

The 2nd grade learned how to create faces in clay by pinching and using the palette knives and brush handles. We used a cornstarch/baking soda clay that looks really pretty and dries way too fast. We used little cups to dip our fingers into to work the clay and came up with some pretty great president face replicas.

  The 3rd grade created vertebrates and invertabrates. No photos this time but fantastic alligators, snakes, flying squirrels and more. This is a great medium for all of them as it is forgiving and allows for a great deal of creativity.