Clay Investigation

Ongoing Clay investigation

 The children have been working with many other classrooms in the Art Studio with clay.  We started out by just exploring the clay using our hands.  The children found different ways they could use their hands as tools with the clay.  For their initial experience we presented with a round piece of clay to prompt their thinking through exploration.

The children started out by pinching and flattening the clay from a ball. They would use their hands to "slap" the clay flat, use their elbows to try to make it flat, as well as using their entire body by pressing their stomachs onto the clay.

After the children explored flattening the clay they began rolling back into a ball formation, exploring different ways of making the clay turn into a ball.  Some of the children rolled it in both hands off of the table, some children used one hand on the table and some used both hands to "squish it into the ball".                                                                                      

Amaryllis Update

The children continue to observe and record the growth of the amaryllis

 After the amaryllis blossomed at the beginning of February, the children were excited to paint pictures of the new blossom. We encouraged the children to use their knowledge about paint and color mixing to accurately represent the amaryllis.

 We offered the children paint brushes so they could more easily added details to their drawings. The teachers sat with the children and helped them notice the separate parts of the flower. As they were painting the flower, they noticed a second bloom.

As the month went on, two more blossoms bloomed alongside the two original flowers. The children also noticed that another leaf was growing from the stem. The children continued to measure the plant everyday. By the end of the month, the amaryllis' height didn't change, however the width of the blossoms continued to increase.