Last month in the Toddler 2 room we explored play with clay and loose materials. Each toddler received their own clay and loose materials, and they were left to utilize them in whatever way they wished. We believe that when children are left to explore on their own, their natural curiousity will lead them to become more imaginative and creative, and to have more positive emotions like joy as they are the masters of their own creation!
As we watched the toddlers play, we saw them doing different things with the clay and loose materials; some toddlers decided to stick the beads, feathers, and pipe cleaners into the clay, some toddlers decided that they just wanted to sort beads, and some toddlers threaded beads onto the pipe cleaners.
We heard a lot of descriptive words being used as the toddlers described what they made, “Big ball!” one of our toddlers exclaimed. “Make a worm.” another toddler said. And when a toddler needed help with sticking a pipe cleaner into the clay, they said, “Help, please.”.
It was great seeing the toddlers exploring in different ways and using words to express themselves, and we hope to continue to foster this type of exploratory play in the future.
