Kids Clay

“Art, like play, helps children to understand their world. But art goes beyond play, enabling them to express their personal experiences and fantasies in ways that are concrete and compelling, even when they are unable to articulate the events in words” Nancy Beal, The Art of Teaching Art to Children

Today is the last pottery class of the session I have with my elementary aged students. Here are a few of my favorite pieces to illustrate how they expressed themselves with the tools I taught them.

pinch pot Jack O’Lantern

Start with a pinch pot, pinch and pull it into something Halloween -y ~ guess who dressed up as a witch on a broomstick?!

Have fun with coils and learn scratch and attach with slip

Tiles from start to finish – tile cut slab, add/subtract clay, surface decoration

Let’s make our favorite animals ~ walrus (make them hollow so they won’t blow up in the kiln!)

What does winter mean to you ?This student used coils to make a christmas tree and added colorful presents.

Functionality of pottery ~ a tray for cookies!

 

More art instruction ~ class- one day, class – multiple days

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NEXT Clay Class for Kids is Monday, January 27th at 3:30 – last day to register is Friday, January 24th

The Dedham Square Artist Guild has teamed up with the Dedham Community House to offer art classes. My next Clay Class for Kids is Monday, January 27th – last day to register is Friday, January 24th.

Clay Class for Kids (first grade and older) will be a “Valentine’s Day” themed class. Last year I taught my students to create a pinch pot that they decorated, some made heart shaped bowls. There was also an opportunity to make a flat tile so that students could play with surface elements like stamping and adding clay elements. Using non-toxic red and white paint, students decorated their work.

For this year’s class, we may try something different.

I clear coat the students works of art and fire them in a kiln (at Potters Place, my cooperative studio in Walpole). Finished artwork will be available toward the end of February at the Dedham Square Artist Guild Gallery, 553 High Street in Dedham Square.

I am hosting additional clay classes and those are listed on my website.

Clay Class for Kids ~ Thanksgiving

On November 4th, I hosted a clay class for kids at the Dedham Community House. The class was an hour long workshop designed to give kids, 1st through 5th grade, exposure to clay. They learn techniques and create a piece of pottery. There is always a literary or art component to my classes so kids can take away an art history lesson as well as a hands on experience.

Having a theme is always fun and “Thanksgiving” is a great one! There is food, foliage, and many stories the kids want to share about their own Thanksgiving traditions. The kids start with a slab of clay to practice with. We talk about rolling coils for a frame. We talk about making impressions with objects such as leaves and stamps. We talk about attaching clay images to the tile by using the slip and score technique. We talk about carving into the clay.

Once they have had time to play and try out the different techniques, I give them a fresh clay tile. We stop for a minute to talk about Thanksgiving. I teach them about Norman Rockwell and show them pictures of his famous holiday meal painting. We talk about the students’ holiday traditions and then they begin their project.

Some of the students decide to make wall pockets with their tile, so we add holes. We let the clay dry a little and then the kids add color with paint.

After class, I take the tiles home to my studio where they have ample time to dry.

I paint them with a clear glaze fire them in a kiln at Potters Place. Once finished, I added a couple of items for the students … an easel for display or a pretty ribbon for hanging before packaging them up for the students.

I will be offering my next Clay Class for Kids on Monday, December 2nd. The theme will be “Animals”. The class takes place at the Dedham Community House from 3:15-4:15pm. The deadline to sign up is Friday, November 29th. Click here to register.

Happy Thanksgiving!