Art Project: Sculptures from Clay and found Nature Material

Working with clay is a tactile experience that seems to be an essential part of a child's development. Making sculptures out of clay and found objects from nature is a great way to offer open-ended play and encourage creativity. This project also allow, for easy set-up in the art room,  is cost effective, and is also wildly popular with children. They work for an art class setting, the Godly Play classroom, and at home.

All you need is:

- clay (I use the air drying variety)

-  glue

- a few objects from nature, such as leaves, sticks, rocks, moss, etc.

- a little imagination (and children have no lack this!)

Sometimes we go to the park and find the nature treasures ourselves  . . . 

And other times I bring nature material and set it out on a tray to save time . . . 

The children then begin to sculpt, and usually one does not have to give them any suggestions of what to make. They flow with their imaginations and come up with the most amazing things. Sometimes, at Easter I add eggshells or cress seeds to the mix, as in the picture below.

It is important to have glue available and show the children how to glue pieces together at the "joints", so that they do not fall apart when drying. In the picture below, we glued the figure's head to the body as well as the walnut and body to the bark. 

Isn't it amazing what children come up with to create?

 . . . 

Ein lieblings und einfaches Kunstproject von mir besteht daraus, Skulpturen aus Ton und Naturmaterial zu gestalten. Man braucht dafür nur den Ton, Naturmaterial und Kleber. Die Kinder denken dann super kreative Sachen aus. 

Manchmal gehen wir draußen und sammeln die Naturschätze selber und manchmal bringe ich sie um Zeit zu sparen. Wichtig ist den Kindern zu zeigen, an welchen Stellen den Bastelleim benutzt werden soll, damit nichts beim Austrocknen kaputt geht. 

Die Ergebnisse sind echt wunderschön!


Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

and Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy