Clay’s inherent material qualities have the potential to facilitate non-verbal communication and storytelling and enable people with dementia to access embodied knowing and memory. This paper reflects on my observations of a clay workshop for people with dementia as part of the ongoing Clay for Dementia programme at the Garden Museum, using embodied cognition theory as a framework to gain insight into what is happening when people with dementia make with clay. While there is a growing body of research into the benefits for people with dementia engaging in arts activities, clay is under researched in relation to cognitive, therapeutic and social benefits for people with dementia, this paper seeks to address this, using the holistic methodology of autoethnography and arts-based research; drawing upon my own embodied knowledge of working with clay. I hope to challenge the perceptions of people with dementia, sharing how I have observed a capacity to develop new skills and work imaginatively.