Love this glittery, multi-coloured tray of pasta, lovingly served up by the early years staff at Prince Alberts Primary School in Birmingham. I spent a day sharing the delights of working on the potter’s wheel with the Nursery children. Looking forward to returning on Wednesday to work with Yr R.
Tag Archive for birmingham
Maths inspire week
Having worked with the parents at E.P HQ it was now time to engage the children at Washwood Heath Nursery School in a little numeracy/clay crossover.
Just how many bugs can you fit on a giant clay leaf?
Numeracy & clay lesson
On a very sunny Tuesday last week a group of parents from Washwood Heath Nursery School visited the pottery. Their mission, to investigate ways of communicating numeracy through working with clay.
The session was booked by the incredibly creative Nursery School ahead of its annual maths week. The visitors made simple 3d shapes, counted clay balls and measured clay coils, all very simple techniques designed to be shared at home with their children.
There was also an hour or so after lunch for everybody to take turns on five potter’s wheels. Great way to round up a brilliant clay session.
Potter No 3 please!
Very very busy day at The Springfield Project in Birmingham. I was providing drop-in potter’s wheel and tile making workshops for hundreds of local families who were visiting the Centre as part of its Creative Families Festival. The day was a rip roaring success with young and old trying all kinds of creative activities including kite making, theatre, dance and of course pottery.
We were opperating a first come first served system with eager potter’s being issued a numbered sticker to denote their turn. I must admit at one point I was begining to flag a little: Having introduced the first 15 children to the delights of making a pot on the wheel, I glanced up and saw a young man with a No 45 sticker emlazoned to his t-shirt!
I’m back at the Centre next week working with different groups who meet there on a regular basis.
This is why we do it!
Although I was working with a group of parents at Hatherton Children’s Centre in Walsall, I couldn’t help but notice the photos and text displayed on the wall.
There were images of very young children having a whale of a time, up to their eyeballs in gloop, shredded paper and paint. The display reinforced how crucial these sensory experiences are for babies and their parents – something I value greatly when working with clay within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Oh, and the parents I worked with made some wonderful coil pot creations. Check out this fabulous cat fashioned using the coil pot technique.
