Four-year-old Alex Graham was hard at work yesterday, scraping and shaping a piece of clay at the Quarry Arts Centre "Kids Clay" holiday programme. "I'm making a boat for my dad, just like the one we've got at home," Alex said. Alex and brother, Nathan, 7, joined six other children making everythingfrom bowties to fruitbowls, under the watchful eye of seasoned potter Els van Drunen. Mrs van Drunen is the co-ordinater of The Firebirds pottery group and said she was there to guide the children and show them what they could achieve. "They can all learn something in their scope. But it's school holidays so they should be having fun too." Visitors from Pukekohe, Mary-Anne Wilcox and her children, Ethan, 11, and Lily, 9, signed up after reading about the programme in the Northern Advocate. Ethan, using a scrubbing brush to create texture on a bowl, said: "It's quite fun. I've learnt not to make it too thick or else it will blow up." The children have to leave their piece de resistance with Mrs van Drunen to be fired. Six-year-old Patuawa Nathan had the process all worked out. "We have to leave them here for three weeks, then they get fired, then we come pick them up," he said. Two Generations, the theme for today's programme, encouraged parents to get stuck in with their children. Although Mrs Wilcox was the only mum there yesterday, Mrs van Drunen said: "Mums, dads and grandparents come every day and, sometimes, they all stay." The holiday programme at the Arts Quarry Centre has been running for more than 10 years and arts co-ordinator Kirstin Kay says they are still going strong.
