Jane bought in some ready made cement patterns that had been cast from a welly boot footprint. This gave the children an idea of how their previous explorations of pattern making can be turned into something more durable. The children spent a very long time pressing on and peeling off the clay to discover the cement patterns underneath. The clay was put out onto the table so that the children could collect their own. We pressed and placed the clay into large trays and small ice-cube trays, ready to take impressions of objects.
Some put sticks and stones in their clay, others poked branches into the clay to make shapes and patterns. We named the children’s trays.
We talked about how we got the clay ready and were collecting some patterns to turn into bricks for the garden.
Step 3
The next week, we rediscovered our patterns. Jane had poured cement onto the ‘bricks’ over the week so they came back hard and ready to clean up.
With some slightly soapy water in spray bottles, we sprayed and picked away at the clay using brushes and sticks to reveal the patterns.
Although this was a very slow process, the children were absorbed in finding the patterns they had created earlier on in the project.
Then come further discussions about how the ‘bricks’ will be used in the garden.