These are the fun sarcophagi the 4th/5th graders made from clay. We spent a few days learning about Egyptian art and drawing them on paper. See my previous post about the drawings. Due to my finger problem, I’m not going to type out full directions for the clay sarcophagus.. but we traced the template onto slabs of clay for the top and bottom, built the bottom up with coils and then carved designs in the top of the box. Kids … Read more…
I told you I had a bunch of lesson plans that I have not shared with you yet. I have enough to take me through the whole summer! Here are some simple clay suns. We looked at some pictures of the Metapac clay suns.
This is a picture-heavy post!! The 2nd graders reminded me that we had not done any clay this year yet! How could that be? So I decided to try this project that I come up with based on a clay flower in a pot that my sister-in-law has. I’m not sure where she got the flower but I think it was picked up at an art fair or something… We used regular firing clay, acrylic paints, beads, and a flower … Read more…
My 3rd/4th grade class made clay pots. We looked at the Mimbres pottery of the Southwest Native Americans, but I did not require them to use any of the imagery in their pottery. They could choose to add glaze designs however they wished. These are all coil built pots and glazed with Amaco Stroke and Coat glaze.
These lovely clay butterflies were made by the 1st graders. Each student traced their hands to make the wings. Some of the little parts fell off, so I would recommend making sure that the kids don’t roll their slabs too thin. I found this lesson in the book, The Clay Lady Way Textbook. I was able to flip through this book at one of the National Art Ed conferences and decided it would be worth the investment.
The kindergartners made two clay projects before break. They made little pinch pots and pressed shells on the sides for texture. We glazed these with Stroke and Coat glaze. We also made these fun coiled hearts. 1. Demonstrate how to roll coils with your fingers.2. Pass out a handout with a heart drawn on it (I just free hand drew a heart and photocopied it.)3. Place the coil on the outside edge of the heart and wrap it around. Then … Read more…
In my college clay class I learned this extremely valuable clay trick. One of my students called it an “ancient clay secret” so I like to call it that too. This technique may be one that is known to you, but if you have never seen it, this technique may be helpful to you in your classroom. This has saved many pots from falling over in my teaching career. Uh-oh! The walls are lopsided and falling over! What do I … Read more…
We learned about Sumerian art. The students drew Sumerian statuettes and we also made some figures out of clay! These statuettes are characterized by large, staring eyes, clasped hands, cylindrical bodies, expressionless faces and bodies devoid of gender differentiation. They have religious and cultural meaning and we will investigate this in class.
Here is one of my favorite little clay projects I have done. We made clay monsters. I taught this project about 5 years ago and I haven’t done it again. I think I will do it again this year. These are really easy. You just make a pinch pot, turn it on its side and then add your features. We painted these with neon tempera paints. Acrylic paints would probably work better. We also spray varnished them. And now it’s … Read more…
For this project, we drew African masks and then constructed them from slabs of clay. These were painted with acrylic paints and then sprayed with varnish.
I did an after school clay class with kids in grades K-6
To complement their study of explorers, the Primaries made clay Viking ships. We started by rolling a flat slab of clay with a rolling pin and then cutting out the bottom of the boat. Next, we rolled coils of clay to build up the walls. Finally, students could choose to add a dragon head to the ship and shields. We painted a fabric sail while the clay projects dried. After these were fired in the kiln, we painted them … Read more…
Easy Clay Hearts for Kindergarten This project teaches how to roll coils and basic glazing techniques. 1. Step one, Demonstrate rolling coils.2. Form the coils on a pre-drawn heart handout. Press firmly to adhere together. A little bit of water may be added as needed.3. Teacher pokes hole through top.4. After firing, glaze with clay glazes. Limit the color choices for the little ones.5. Tie yarn and raffia through the hole. Voila! A nice little ornament or wall hanging for … Read more…
Here are a few of the final glazed pocket pots. Kids were in grades K-6. It was an afterschool class. For full directions, see earlier post about this project. Yay! I love them!
Today I held an after school clay class for grades K-5. I had 11 kids sign up and we made pocket pots. These are so fun! After painting them, we will attach a wire to the top and they can hang on the wall to hold items like keys or money. I took pictures of the kids as they worked. Roll out a slab of clay. Trace an oval template and cut out. Cut a straight line across the oval, … Read more…
