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This is my setup for the clay play. I brought some natural materials such as tree branches, rocks and leaves. I also gathered other materials that could be found in the kitchen and around my house such as paper cups, bowl and sponge. I didn’t have a clear plan, just wanted to play and try things out with different textures.

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When I first got the clay, it felt a bit cooling and moist. I wouldn't say it's smooth to touch because it's lumpy here and there but when I rubbed it, it got smoother. When I smell with, it smelt a bit like grass and earth which brought me back to my childhood moment when I got to play mud kitchen.

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This was me right at the beginning, taking the clay out of the box. I tried to let go of any goal or idea of what to make. I just wanted to feel it and get to know it again like a child meeting clay for the first time. Pelo (2016) encourages us to approach clay with openness and curiosity, without rushing to create something. This moment felt slow, calm, and mindful, it's like the clay was inviting me to listen first, before doing anything else. Along with the music that was playing, I was able to just follow my intuition and feeling with the clay. I was just going with the flow of the music, when the rhythm is slow, I found my movement slow down as well. When the rhythm is fast, my movement was also picking up.

Pelo, A. (2016). Introduction. The language of art: Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings (pp. 1–13). Redleaf Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4674378&ppg=14

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I wanted to see what would happen if I used a stone to pound the clay. I wonder if the clay break apart or it would mix together even more. As I pounded it with the stone, tt made these deep, uneven marks and changed the texture completely. It felt more intense than poking. It was like I was testing how strong the clay really was. The clay pushed back a bit, like it had its own limits. This moment reminded me of my home country. One of our province called Kampong Chnang province. The word "Chnang" means "Pot" in english. The province is famous for its products made out of clay. I went there once and luckily able to witness the process of making claypot. As I used the stone to pound the clay, it reminded me how the artist pound and smold the clay to shaping the claypot.

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At one moment, I used the tree branch to poke holes into the clay, and as I kept going, it started to remind me of trypophobia, it's the kind of satisfying but also a little unsettling because I got goosebumps. What I noticed from this play was how the clay responded differently depending on how hard I poked it. Some holes were deep, some shallow. It felt like the clay was interacting with me and not just being shaped. Like Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) says, materials like clay have their own way of responding, they’re not passive.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58

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I used the stick to scratch the surface of the clay because I was curious to see how it would react. It left these rough, broken lines that felt completely different from the smoothness earlier. It made me think about how clay can carry memory, like Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) mentioned. Every mark tells a little story about how it was touched. I wasn’t trying to make anything. I was just exploring textures and how it feels to leave a trace.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58

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At this moment, I stood up to explore the clay with more of my body and not just my hands. I noticed how my movement changed the way I interacted with the clay. I wasn’t just shaping it, the clay was kind of guiding me too. As I moved, I felt more freedom and flow. Pelo (2016) talks about the importance of full body play and I really felt that here. It gotten easier to move with the clay or I could say the clay is more responsive to me.

Pelo, A. (2016). Introduction. The language of art: Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings (pp. 1–13). Redleaf Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4674378&ppg=14

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After playing with the clay for a while, it started to feel harder and drier. I decided to pour some water on it to see how it would change. Right away, it became softer, stickier, and more squishy to touch. It was like the clay came back to life. This reminded me of what I wrote in my notes and also what Pelo (2016) described: clay is always changing, and it invites us to keep experimenting and responding to it.

Pelo, A. (2016). Introduction. The language of art: Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings (pp. 1–13). Redleaf Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4674378&ppg=14

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I wanted to see how strong the clay was, so I started sticking branches and skewers that I brought from home into it. As I was wondering how well it could hold them up. I wasn’t trying to build something, just exploring what the clay could do. It made me think of Pelo’s (2016) invitation to slow down and notice, to engage in play that’s led by curiosity rather than product. I wasn’t thinking of creating any product because I was just testing, wondering, observing. But there were times where I was so tempted to make this or that but I kept restraining myself.

It also connects with Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) idea of clay as responsive or as a co-player. The clay wasn’t just a base but it reacted. Sometimes it held firm, other times it cracked, depending on moisture or pressure. That interaction felt like a quiet conversation between me and the clay.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58

Pelo, A. (2016). Introduction. The language of art: Inquiry-based studio practices in early childhood settings (pp. 1–13). Redleaf Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4674378&ppg=14

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As I was playing with the clay, I got curious so I used the paint that my friend made from food to try something new with the clay. It felt like a collaboration as I borrowed her material and mixing it with my own clay journey. The colours and textures created something unexpected. It made me think of how materials can hold stories from others too. As Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) says, materials are part of a network or connector of relationships, not just between me and the clay but also between me and others, for instance my friend.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58

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In this moment, I brought the clay into a different ecology, a new surface, a new setting. I wanted to see how it would respond in a different ecology. Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) talks about how environments shape how materials behave and how we engage with them. In the reading, it mentioned 3 ecologies and one of them is forest. Therefore, I brought the clay to garden outside the room since we don't have any forest nearby. I noticed how my movements shifted, and the way clay reacted changed too. Even the energy felt different. It reminded me that clay isn’t just a material but it’s always in relationship with the space, sound, and body around it. I was standing, reaching out to the tree to stick the clay onto it. And I noticed that when I stick the clay onto it, it became the connector of the relationship between me and the tree. The clay also change it shaped accordingly as well.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58

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Since we didn’t have a real river, I tried placing the clay in water to imagine how it might behave in a river ecology like in Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016) example. The water softened the clay right away and made it move differently. It felt more alive, like it was flowing with the water. It become more slippery and somehow it started to melted into the water. I loved watching how the clay started to break down slowly. It reminded me that clay changes depending on where it is and that the environment is part of the play too.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L. L. M. (2016). Excerpt from Paint. Encounters with materials in early childhood education (pp. 45–55). Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vu/reader.action?docID=4649662&ppg=58