This summary is for the past two sessions.
Group Exploring:
We brought out our clay bag with the wet towel still wrapped around it from last week. We explored the flexibility of the clay by grabbing chunks of clay and trying to roll out/flatten them to build collaborative works. The Muons found the clay to be very hard and tried to add water to soften the clay. At the end of class we put the chunks in a bucket of water.
Beginning individual projects:
We brought out our bag of clay with the wet towel wrapped around it. Since we had taken chunks out, the clay was smaller and the wet towel had now made the clay very soft. Tools were supplied so the Muons could do a favorite activity, scrape pieces of clay off.
We continued our observations. The chunks we had thrown in the bucket last week became very sticky/squishy. I saved a small sample of the sticky clay and showed them what I had done with the rest of the bucket clay. I spread it on a plaster tablet using a spoon and we saw how the plaster immediately started to suck out the moisture. I explained that when dry enough, I wedged the clay to align particles and remove air pockets. I demonstrated wedging.
Muons were invited to explore the big chunk of clay, the squishy clay, and the wedging area while I worked with 2-4 Muons at a time to roll out wedged clay, cut out circle stencils, write their names on one side, and smooth the other side with water.
It was a busy and productive class!