Natural Clay Modeling with Children: Rewarding and Necessary

Waldorf Natural Clay Modeling- an important part of the learning journey. Above are different photos over the years that we have made.  Starting with simple sphere and egg shape-one pulls the clay and creates anything in their imagination.  Animals, fairy tales and houses (for older children) are all steps on a 3-D ladder of art.  The houses above are based on a study of Mexican adobe structures and the beehive house is actually a spirtual sweat lodge. Sometimes when my children are having difficulty drawing something-I have them mold it first and then the process becomes easier and more alive.  I buy earth pigment natural Lyra clay from waldorfsupplies.com.  At amazon.com I found lyra clay but it was colored.  Lyra is a German company known for its high standards and a european non toxin standard (not American which is basically dependent on whatever China is serving up).  If you have not started with clay-in Waldorf the children start with warm beeswax and then progress to clay.  If you are interested in beeswax projects please see my Christmas blog on beeswax nativity sets. 

We use this book:

 LEARNING ABOUT THE WORLD THROUGH MODELING

Sculptural Ideas for School and Home

by Arthur Auer

If you like this blog please check out my book "Beyond Natural Cures" and my music program "The AMHC"