Into the Labyrinth with Clay, Beads and Wire

After noticing how much the children enjoyed the 'gluing and sticking'- the 'making' with actual tactile materials in their hands, I thought about how much they'd enjoy clay. As I am not very experienced with clay, I did a bit of research and this session was actually inspired by a blog post on An Everyday Story- 'Using clay: bead and wire sculptures'. I loved the idea of adding these 'loose-parts' to the clay which would allow for plenty of creativity and discovery.

In the post, the author mentions 'bead-coasters' or 'bead-mazes'. This led me onto procrastinating about mazes in general, and how much wonder they tend to stir up in children. I used to love going to those hedge-mazes at stately homes and imagining I was in all sorts of worlds.

I wanted to start the session with a story. Stories seem to be such a great bridge into the 'creative zone', springing imaginations into life. I was reminded of the Greek Myth- 'Ariadne's Thread' which is about a Minotaur waiting for sacrifices in the depths of a tangled maze, and the brave soldier who finally slays him, but I thought it was too scary and complicated to read to the children. 

However, my mind kept wondering back to this maze of tangled passages, so I re-wrote the myth, leaving out the parts about Poseidon and his white bull, and glossing over the parts about 'sacrifices', instead concentrating on how Ariadne helped Theseus escape the labyrinth with a ball of red thread.

Clutching his red thread, Theseus delved deeper and deeper into the maze. The labyrinth was dark, and there were many different paths he could choose from. Some routes were very narrow and he had to squeeze his way through. Others were so overgrown with thorns and brambles that he had to cut his way through with his sword.

After I finished telling the tale (whilst clutching my real ball of red thread), I gave each child a ball of clay and pointed out the piles of beads and wire on the table. My photography doesn't do these justice, but this is what they made:

'This is the red thread from the story to help you get out'

I love how this child made the beads leave textured paths to where they sit.

'How can I balance this (the pine cone) on top of this (wire form)?'