Originally inspired by African mud dolls sent to us by Olngarua School in Kenya, Miss Brown and the Primary 1-4 pupils from Craignish Primary have been involved in an exciting clay dig project this term. The aim of this project was to enable the children to make direct comparisons between our culture and those of children living in Africa. We had an amazing time on our ‘clay day’ where we got to dig local clay, listen to African stories inside a tipi, create woven willow balls and create patterned clay tiles by pressing natural materials into them.

Over the course of a few weeks, the children helped to take the clay from its raw form to one that was useable by drying and sieving it. After helping to process the clay, the children then sculpted toys that were familiar to their culture. These were then contrasted with the more modest dolls sent by the African children.