First Clay Craft (2)

The colored clay was sold in packs of small amounts of clay with a single color each.  We distributed one pack to each child, meaning that each one got a different color.  Since the purpose was to practice making shapes with clay, we thought color wouldn't be a big deal.  Furthermore, in art, it is not the case that things cannot be expressed without specific colors, and I just personally believe that even if something is monochrome or colorless, we can add color to it through our imagination.

As a matter of fact, many children shared the colors with their friends around and mixed the colors in parts of their creations.  For example, they made animals and changed the color of just the eyes.  This helped to develop the children's artistic sensibilities, and I think it was a good thing.  In the past, I felt very disappointed when the children in the village showed no interest in the designs or patterns on the letter paper, or when they had no particular preference for the colored paper used in the program.  Now, these children are able to choose their own colors for origami and paint, and are even thinking about changing the color of the clay themselves, which is wonderful.

However, sometimes the purpose of combining colors was simply to find a color that matched the object one was making.  For instance, "I have red clay, so let’s make a tomato."  "She has some green clay, so let’s ask her for some green and make a stem for my tomato."  I think it in turn limits their creativity and that it’s not desirable.

Overall, the younger children were more creative and were able to freely create what they had in mind.  The older children tended to first copy what they saw in the example models and were somehow more passive to come up with ideas or express their ideas.  It would be a shame to be passive about trying out something new.  We think that if children are given plenty of opportunities to have these kinds of experiences at an early stage, it will have a positive impact on their way of thinking.