Nature Prints with Clay

  We use play dough often, but we've never used clay before. Now that we have, I'm wondering what I was waiting for! 

  I think I expected clay would be similar to play dough, so I didn't bother getting around to it. But it's a very different material and one worth adding to your art supplies!

  We gathered some nature items from the backyard that we thought might make interesting prints. We chose leaves, dandelions, pine needles. Then we pulled off some clay, flattened it as best we could, and gently pushed the item into the clay. 

Some worked (the pine needles showed up beautifully!) and some didn't (we got nothing from the leaves despite our best attempts). The dandelion left some yellow color after we pressed it into clay, which Kay thought was pretty cool. 

  The next day she was interested in trying again, so this time we just did some creating with it. I (unwisely) thought the play dough tools might be fun with it. Wrong. In generally the clay was too sticky for the rolling pin, scissors or cookie cutters. But we gave it a try and came out with some shapes that almost resembled what we were trying to make!

  Since we'd never used clay before, there was some trial-and-error involved. They probably seem pretty obvious to more experienced clay-users, but if you're a clay-newbie, keep these in mind: 

• It is sticky. It will stick to the table, so be sure to cover it with something. We found parchment paper worked the best.
  
• Thicker pieces - greater than 1/4" thick - are more durable and less likely to break. (We found this out the hard way!)
  
• When it's dry (which can take up to a couple of days) you can paint it or decorate with markers.
  

What we're working on here: 

• Fine motor skills
• Nature appreciation
• Creativity

Welcome to the Getting Ready for Kindergarten series, full of ways to prepare for school - the fun way! See what you've missed so far...

• Number hunt
  
• Exploring nature with mirrors
  
• Fun with tangrams - and why they matter
• Sight word slam
• Letter learning with alphabet stamps
• Feed the monster counting game

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