There is no better moment for me than witnessing a child鈥檚 joy as they sit at the potter鈥檚 wheel for the first time and place their wet hands on slowly spinning clay! Clay, and its necessity to be touched, is at once familiar to children. The sensory experiences they encounter in our pottery studio are numerous and as they experience the texture and feel of the clay, the students express what they are sensing with uninhibited enthusiasm; 鈥淚t鈥檚 cold, it鈥檚 wet and squishy, and it鈥檚 so heavy!鈥 Clay asks to be poked, pinched, twisted and rolled and as they handle it. Children develop both fine and major motor skills and realize that they have an effect on the clay as it responds to their manipulation. Children visually inspect the clay鈥檚 surface and color, they smell it and they laugh at the sounds it makes when it鈥檚 wet. For many, it鈥檚 perhaps the first time they鈥檝e been encouraged to get wet and dirty in a classroom environment and there is an instinctive and uplifting response to the freedom they feel. Even when the finished product is ready to take home, the children hold and cradle their work, smoothing their fingers over the now colorfully glazed surface as they turn it around and around for inspection.
About my class
There is no better moment for me than witnessing a child鈥檚 joy as they sit at the potter鈥檚 wheel for the first time and place their wet hands on slowly spinning clay! Clay, and its necessity to be touched, is at once familiar to children. The sensory experiences they encounter in our pottery studio are numerous and as they experience the texture and feel of the clay, the students express what they are sensing with uninhibited enthusiasm; 鈥淚t鈥檚 cold, it鈥檚 wet and squishy, and it鈥檚 so heavy!鈥 Clay asks to be poked, pinched, twisted and rolled and as they handle it. Children develop both fine and major motor skills and realize that they have an effect on the clay as it responds to their manipulation. Children visually inspect the clay鈥檚 surface and color, they smell it and they laugh at the sounds it makes when it鈥檚 wet. For many, it鈥檚 perhaps the first time they鈥檝e been encouraged to get wet and dirty in a classroom environment and there is an instinctive and uplifting response to the freedom they feel. Even when the finished product is ready to take home, the children hold and cradle their work, smoothing their fingers over the now colorfully glazed surface as they turn it around and around for inspection.
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