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COPYRIGHT 2002 Mothering Magazine
Six-year-old Maya Babow beams with pride as she reaches into her treasure trove of colorful ceramic Beanie Baby props. Maya has been working with clay for nearly half her life. Her eyes sparkle with enthusiasm as she displays the exquisite miniature tea set that she formed and glazed from start to finish. Maya and her mother, Karen Levin, work together in a clay studio about once a week--Levin on the potter's wheel, Maya doing hand building. Levin appreciates the opportunity to share a creative experience with her daughter while at the same time doing her own thing.
As many parents have discovered, enjoying ceramics with a child opens doors to creativity, strengthens relationships, and is a lot of fun. Children are natural artists, and watching them play with clay is a lesson in the joy and freedom of creative expression. Margaret Fitzgerald, an artist and former elementary school art teacher, has guided children through a variety of clay projects. "Children respond with great enthusiasm to clay," she says. "It is always their favorite art project because of the immediate tactile experience." She notes that there is something primal in the way children react to clay and likens it to playing in the mud.
Fitzgerald has observed children venting frustrations while molding a lump of clay, then leaving the room calm and satisfied. Some of the younger children, she remembers, had difficulty rolling coils or joining slabs, but with a little help rose to the challenge of the more complex projects. When the projects were complete, the children were especially proud of their shiny clay bells, masks, coil pots, and animal figures.
Although many children are uninhibited artists, the same cannot always be said of their parents. For some adults, the...
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