What Is Clay?
Clay is a wonderful material that you can shape with your hands into almost anything! It is soft, squishy, and smooth, and when you are done shaping it, it hardens so your creation lasts.
Clay comes from the earth. It is made of tiny particles of rock and minerals that have broken down over millions of years. When you add water, these particles slide past each other, making the clay soft and easy to mold.
People have been making things from clay for thousands of years — pots, bowls, cups, plates, statues, beads, and even entire buildings! Some of the oldest human artworks ever found were made from clay.
There are different types of clay you might use:
Air-dry clay: this hardens by sitting in the air. No oven needed! Great for classroom projects.
Playdough: soft and easy to work with, but it does not harden permanently.
Polymer clay: hardens when baked in a regular oven.
Pottery clay: the professional stuff! It gets fired in a very hot kiln.
For our projects, any soft, moldable clay will work!