What’s it like – clay?

Clay is a natural material. It is dug out of the ground.  It’s a bit like dark, sticky mud; the type that grabs onto your wellies and doesn’t let go!

When it is damp and cool, clay is soft and easy to use.  It can be pushed…..

rolled…..

squeezed…..

twisted…..

moulded…..

and pressed…..

 

into any shape.

But hang on; what happens after you have been handling it for a while? 

As you use it, the heat from your hands begins to make the clay dry out, which makes it much harder and difficult to use.  You may even have to wet your hands a bit. 

That’s odd; quite the opposite from plasticine, which needs to be warm when you use it.

But clay is meant to go hard eventually; that’s what makes it such a useful material.  Clay is changed into pottery by heat.  Why not pay us a visit and take a look at the way in which the heat of the classroom has changed our soft, cool, damp clay? 

How are the things we made different from the ‘pottery’ you see here?