There is an abundance of freedom and creativity when it comes to crafting with clay. It can be an amazing way to bond with your child and let them experience the joy of artistic expression. Working with clay can help improve fine motor skills in children and, as with any form of art, help to cultivate creativity and inspire confidence. Plus, you’ll be able to keep your child’s creations for years to come.

 

Clay is an easy enough material to work with that anyone, from novice to master, can experiment and create something fun. We’ve provided some activities below to introduce your child to the wonderful, magic world of clay. These activities are accessible for families with any level of skill in working with clay. All you really need is some clay, which you can get either online or from a local craft store, and some imagination.

 

For younger children ages 4 and up who are still learning the alphabet, a great hands-on way to help them learn is to practice making letters out of clay. Help them form the letters and tell them what each one is. Or, alternatively, you can show a picture of letter and say, “Can you make me the letter L?” and have them try to make it themselves. This activity will make letters more tangible to a child by putting shapes into the child’s hands.

 

Another wonderful way to introduce older children, roughly ages 6 and up, to more classic techniques of pottery-making is to teach them how to make a coil pot. Help your child roll clay into a snake-like shape, commonly referred to as a coil. You can even encourage them to score, or carve, eyes and scales if they want to make the coil really look like a snake. You can use specific ceramic tools to score or even just some toothpicks or forks. Then, have your child begin to layer the coil around and around over itself until it forms the structure of a pot. There can be multiple coils or just one depending on the length of the coil(s) and the desired size of the finished pot.

 

If you want to go even more in-depth, you can help your child “slip and score” the coil pot as they create it. If they’ve already made scores in the clay by adding in scales or other designs, then they’re good to go. Otherwise, have them add in some scratch marks along the top and bottom of the clay in between each coil layer. The scoring allows for the coils to interlock, but also for slip to slide into the scores to create even more of a binding.

 

What is slip, you might ask? “Slip is liquid clay. Slip is made by mixing clay with water to create a creamy liquid,” to quote from The Magic of Clay, written by clay artist and illustrator Adalucía. Slip essentially acts a glue to attach clay pieces together. You can pre-make the slip yourself before beginning the craft, either alone or involving your child. Once the slip is ready, help your child put some in between each of the coil layers.

 

If you find your child enchanted by clay, consider reading them books on the subject to enhance their knowledge. A great book that covers a variety of clay techniques, terms, and science is the aforementioned book The Magic of Clay.

 

There are a ton of available resources and activities involving clay. Keep an open mind when exploring various activities—and don’t be afraid to experiment! Allow the freedom of artistic expression thrive between you and your child.