Toddler Art Class: Playing with Clay

Simple materials can be the most compelling.

Art Project: Playing with [air dry] clay
Supplies:
clay (we used Crayola Air Dry variety)
cookie cutters
rolling pins
plastic baggies in case anyone wants to take their clay home

Book:
  Dave the potter : artist, poet, slave / Hill, Laban Carrick

 What Kids Do: 
smash it! 

 roll it!

 crumble it!

 wrap it around the rolling pin like a wheel!

 line it up in a row!

 try cookie cutters!  upside down makes interesting results..

 as does a clay-and-cookie-cutter sandwich..

 or just piling on as many cookie cutters as you can stack up!

The end of the rolling pin makes a nice circle shape.

 And this texture tool makes a nice stomping action!

Variations to try: 
You could try this same activity with playdough, but I did have several people comment that their kid never plays this long with playdough, but they seem to love this stuff.  It does have a firmer and slightly stickier texture.  You could also try Sculpey or modeling clay.