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Category Archives: clay

Fingerprint Plates for School Auction

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A hand-painted plate with a panda holding colorful balloons, surrounded by butterflies, featuring the text "Upper Primaries 2017-2018." This delightful piece would make a wonderful item for a School Auction.

We made 3 fingerprint plates for our school auction. The materials we used were Bisque fired dinner plates from Mayco. Underglaze in various colors Fine line writer bottle (filled with glaze) Clear Gloss Glaze The first was a Dr. Seuss themed “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” plate for the Kindergartners.  The fish are made from their fingerprints. The second was a bird plate for the 1st graders.  All of the birds were made from the kids’ fingerprints.  Their … Read more… →

Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

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Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

Every year my students and I create artworks for our school’s auction.  If you look here, you can see some of the auction artworks from previous years.  This year, each student in grades K-8 made textured clay circle tiles.  We glued them on to several mirrors. The process to make the clay circle tiles is quite simple, yet it teaches the kids several important skills for working with clay. First, roll out a flat piece of clay (called a “slab”). … Read more… →

Egyptian Pyramid STEAM Lesson: Art Ed Blogger’s Network

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Egyptian Pyramid STEAM Lesson: Art Ed Blogger’s Network

How does ART fit into STEM? STEAM:  Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math This month’s Art Ed Blogger’s Network topic is STEAM.  How do art teachers approach STEAM in the classroom?  Should art teachers embrace STEAM? There are many different opinions on STEAM.  Personally, I like to bring in different subjects to the art room.  I think it’s great that so many of our art projects involve other disciplines.  However, I also think art for arts sake is important too.  … Read more… →

Clay Masks with 3rd Grade

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Three colorful clay masks, including a cat, dog, and another animal, with the text "CLAY MASKS" above them. Ideal for 3rd Grade art projects.

  To make these charming clay animal masks, we used plastic face molds (with a layer of plastic wrap in between) as a slump mold for the clay.  Another option was to use the back side of a styrofoam bowl to shape the mask.  The children added and secured the parts of the face.  After firing, they were painted with clay glazes.

Clay Wall Hangings: 2nd Grade

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Clay Wall Hangings: 2nd Grade

Here is a fun and easy project that I taught to my 2nd graders.  We used regular firing clay and gloss glazes. Here is a video I made for my students to demo how to make the wall hangings.  This was before I got my new camera so the quality isn’t as great. Cassie Stephens has done a similar wall hanging project with just the initials.  Next year, I might try that! 

Clay Projects for Kids

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Three clay dog sculptures, each painted differently: one black and white, one brown, and one yellow.

Hello!  Today I am going to catch up on some of the clay projects my students have been working on.  The last few weeks we have been busy learning clay techniques, building and glazing.  We weren’t able to use regular clay for the past year since the kiln was out of commission, so my students were itching to work with clay! The 5th/6th grade classes made Clay Castles. We connected a clay unit to their study of the Middle Ages.  … Read more… →

Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders

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Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders

This is a clay lesson that has been a big hit with my students.  You can see my previous posts about this project here and here.  The 4th/5th grade class studies ancient Egypt in their social studies class and they are excited to learn more about the art and architecture in my class.  I show them a Powerpoint with an overview of Egyptian art and then they work on drawing a sarcophagus design of their own.  I encourage them to … Read more… →

Clay Pinch Pot Monsters by 2nd Graders

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Clay Pinch Pot Monsters by 2nd Graders

These cute pinch pot monsters were made by my 2nd grade class.  Here is a handout you could use about how to make a pinch pot. After making a pinch pot, the students turned them on their side, squished the mouth down a little and then added eyes, noses, horns, ears, tongues and teeth.  Make sure to score and add water in between each part.  (Some people make slip, but I have found that with our consistency of clay, just … Read more… →

Building Castles from Clay (5th and 6th grade)

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Building Castles from Clay (5th and 6th grade)

Hi friends.  I have so many projects back-logged to show you.  I did clay with all of my classes during the month of September.  We are building on to our school and because of construction, our kiln will be out of commission at the end of November through the end of the school year, so we have to get all of our clay done now! My 5th/6th grade classes made clay castles.  They will be studying the Medieval period later … Read more… →

Clay Flowers made by 3rd Grade

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Clay Flowers made by 3rd Grade

I’m in love with these gorgeous clay flowers my 3rd graders made. This summer when I was on vacation in Michigan, I saw some lovely clay wall hangings in an artsy shop.  They were layered clay flowers and they were HUGE!  They were so awesome.  I thought my students could make something similar on a smaller scale. The kids learned how to roll out a clay slab.  Then, they cut out various flower templates, traced them and cut them from … Read more… →

Clay Pinch Pot Monsters with 2nd Graders

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Clay Pinch Pot Monsters with 2nd Graders

This is a tried and true clay lesson for kids.  Who doesn’t love cute monsters? The 2nd graders started by making pinch pots.  This handout shows you how. Turn the pinch pot on its side and add eyes, teeth, ears, tongues, feet and other details.  We painted ours with acrylic and tempera paints.

Clay Butterflies for 1st Grade

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Clay Butterflies for 1st Grade

The first graders had a blast rolling out clay slabs, tracing their butterfly, cutting the clay and stamping textures in the clay.  Do you remember the game Perfection?  When I coordinated a summer day camp, we had this game and the kids loved it.  Then one day, the game stopped working and we couldn’t fix it.  What to do with the pieces?  They are perfect for stamping into clay and also for stamping with paint!  I have used these pieces … Read more… →

Clay Castles with 5th and 6th Grade

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Clay Castles with 5th and 6th Grade

The fifth and sixth graders study the Medieval time period in their Language Arts/Social Studies class.  I love teaching this clay castle project because it allows the students to practice important clay building skills (plus it’s just fun!): rolling slabs building with slabs scoring and using slip smoothing adding embellishments glazing We started by drawing some preliminary sketches of Medieval castles.  The students looked at some examples for reference. The Medieval Castle (one example of a resource) They drew their … Read more… →

Clay Face Mugs- 3rd grade

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A hand-crafted Clay Face Mug featuring bulging eyes, a red nose, and a wide orange mouth.

Making clay mugs with 3rd graders.. This is a great lesson that can be adaptable to pretty much any age.  I’ve taught this project with middle school students and had very successful results.  This is the youngest I’ve taught the clay face vase project and I think they did a very good job! Clay techniques used: rolling slabs and using a straight edge to cut a clay rectangle tracing a cutting a clay circle for the base forming facial features … Read more… →

5 Valentine’s Day Projects for Kids

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Abstract artwork featuring a large heart with a star in the center, surrounded by smaller hearts and various patterns, making it an ideal project for kids on Valentine's Day.

Each year, I tend to try something different for Valentine’s Day.  I like to spice things up, don’t you? Here are some from the past that I have done. 1.  Valentine’s Heart Collages  2.  Cool Hands, Warm Heart 3.  Easy Clay Hearts for Kindergarten  I have made these for Christmas presents, but they would be perfect for Valentine’s Day. 4.  Maps of My Heart (by Kindergarten) 5.   Styrofoam Printed Valentines Follow @marcia_beckett

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.