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Nature Study: Exploring Natural Clay

June 10, 2015 by OneMommy

 

Are you ready to get messy?

This week our Nature Study Series had us exploring natural clay!

 

Nature Study Series:  Exploring Natural Clay

 

To find our clay, we headed for the local creek.

The kids soon found the hard, grey rock-like lumps we were seeking.

While they were interested in the fact that they could break the “rocks,” they really were looking forward to building with the clay.

Once we brought our clay home, we got out trays and containers of water to help soften it up.

messy play with natural clay

 

I let each of my scientists decided how they would work the clay.

After getting its surface wet, and finding how slippery the clay became, my son decided to wash off his hands and head to the sandbox.

My daughter on the other hand, really got into it!

 

sensory play with natural clay

 

She left her clay in the water, breaking it up and squishing it as it softened until it was pudding consistency.

She loved it!

 

exploring natural clay

 

She spent a good hour squishing the clay between her fingers, drawing pictures in it on the tray, and pouring it into different containers.

And, since we were outside, cleanup was a breeze!

 

natural clay messy play

 

Want to take it a step further?

We talked about the fact that clay is made of super fine particles, much smaller than potting soil or regular “dirt.”

Before getting the clay wet, have your scientists predict what will happen when water is added.  Observe how the clay changes once it is wet.  (Does it change color?  Texture?)

Discuss how natural clay has been used in the past.  Then use your clay to build something!  We plan on letting ours dry out a bit and making a small pinch pot.

***

Like this post?

Check out the rest of our posts in this summer’s Nature Study Series!

 

Having trouble finding natural creek clay?

This one is similar:

 

Filed Under: Kids Activities, Sensory Play Tagged With: nature study, outdoor play, sensory play

Comments

  1. Emma says

    June 11, 2015 at 6:05 am

    That looks so cool! We don’t have any natural clay near us, so the best we can do is store-bought. I love that you let them explore the clay however they wanted 🙂

    • OneMommy says

      June 15, 2015 at 4:19 pm

      My daughter was in second Heaven! She kept saying it was “awesome.” 🙂
      My son doesn’t like to get very messy, so I don’t push when he decides an activity isn’t for him. Definitely important to remember.

  2. Nicola says

    June 17, 2015 at 11:08 am

    It sure looks like your kids enjoyed the hands on element of this activity! Thanks for linking to the Family Frugal Linky. I will be featuring this post in my roundup tomorrow at http://www.craftykidsathome.com.

  3. Louise says

    June 20, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    How cool!! I wish I had gotten to play in the mud as a kid with my mum’s permission 🙂 It’s probably also super good from the standpoint of introducing good bacteria into the system – now they tell us to walk barefoot in the dirt more!

    • OneMommy says

      June 30, 2015 at 7:08 pm

      Isn’t it funny? I always went barefoot as a kid, and I don’t remember washing my hands before eating after being outside. Then we do a complete reverse, and everyone uses hand sanitizer, and now they say to let kids walk barefoot in the dirt more! 😉

Trackbacks

  1. Science Activities for Kids – Crafty Kids at Home says:
    June 18, 2015 at 4:29 am

    […] Nature Study: Exploring Natural Clay from There’s Just One Mommy […]

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