Recently, we have introduced clay to the children in the Infant Room. For most of these children, it was their first experience with clay. Some of them poked it with their fingers. For others, they pinched the clay. Our youngest friends explored the clay with their mouths.

Exploring clay with Infants and Young Toddlers is a valuable experience for a number of reasons. It offers children the opportunity to explore an art material that they can become comfortable with. Exploring various art mediums as young children piques their curiosity, assists children in their ability to imagine and allows them to develop the ability to distinguish details ? all important to Creative Expression and Aesthetic Development which is a domain of the New Hampshire Early Learning Guidelines.