Showing posts with label clay projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay projects. Show all posts

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Clay Mugs for Kids!

Hi, friends! My students are wrapping up one of the clay projects they created and I thought I'd share. Last year, my first through fourth created clay mugs and it was easily everyone's favorite clay project. When I shared that we were working with clay again, a few weeks ago, their first question was "are we making mugs again?!" I had already planned on it...so they were excited to hear the answer. Once mugs are complete, we celebrate by drinking hot chocolate out of them...so it's a whole lot of fun. 

This year, I created a video to share with them. Because I have 30 minute art classes, I only showed the pinch pot portion and a bit of coil making for the first class. The second class, we did a brief coil making reminder and then watched the portion about creating a handle. The video helped them trouble shoot and get their mugs completed in just two 30 minute classes!
This week, we started glazing! They were told they could use any two colors of glaze, one for the inside and one for the outside. They were to do at least three coats of their chosen colors and not to glaze the bottom. Once complete, they could join me at the splatter glaze station!

When my students were finished glazing, they could help a friend or work on the large banners I created to announce our upcoming art show! 

We used Prang's Creativity Street Tempera Sticks to color these with.
The glaze we used are from two companies and I like them both: Mayco's Stroke and Coat and Amaco's Teacher's Palette. Both are food safe and fire to cone 06.
When introducing clay to your students, you might find this video fun to share:


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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Let's Make Black Light Clay!

Bet you didn't even know you could make clay that glows under black light! Let me show you how to make Salt Dough Clay with my simple three-ingredient recipe...and then how to make it glow! I'll also share how to create a deep sea scene. You'll need the following:

1/4 cup of water
1/4 cups of salt
1/2 cup of flour
Prang Fluorscent Paint
Cardboard
Crayons

Let's create!

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Sunday, December 1, 2019

In the Art Room: All Things Clay!

When I first started teaching, teaching clay was in my curriculum and I FREAKED.THE.FUNK.OUT. I didn't take a single clay class in college and only made a couple of pieces in high school. I managed to melt down a kiln, explode hundreds of pieces and even drop my share of masterpieces. Despite all of that, after teaching art, clay and kiddos for over 20 years now (and having written a book on the topic!), I feel like I can finally share my (semi-limited) wealth of knowledge on all things clay!
While my book was written for children who don't have access to a kiln, many of the projects can be used with kiln fire clay! 
Over the last three weeks, I have shared everything I know about kiln fire clay on my podcast! It's so much...that I had to break the series into three episodes just to squeeze it all in. So, if you'd like to take a listen here, here you go:


But wait, there's more...



AND just a pinch more...




In case you need a visual, as I often do, here's a video of some of the clay tips I mentioned. For the complete blog post, you can visit here. 
 More details on my favorite tools and how I set up for clay in the video and my podcast!
Part 3 of this series is all about glaze and glaze alternatives. If you'd like a video with more, check this one out:
The blog post with more details on glaze can be found here. 
And if you need a visual of the clay projects I mentioned or just some clay project ideas, then check out this post with my very favorite clay projects! Have fun! 
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Thursday, May 23, 2019

2019 Art Show: The Pirate Gallery!

Now that the art show dust has settled and I'm able to have my life back (like I have much of one in the first place), I thought I'd share our art show with you! I've been giving a ton of sneak peaks over on my Instagram...but have not really given a proper tour. So, let's get started! I created a video tour of the portion of the art show...I hope you enjoy it!
I know the video tends to sweep over the projects and displays so I thought I'd share an overabundance of photos here. Sorry not sorry, y'all. This show was epic!
The theme of our art show was Pirates! That's right, we had a Pirate Art Show and it was easily the biggest and bestest one yet. I cannot wait to share with you all of the details that went into this show...but there is so much that I'm going to spread them over the course of several blog posts. To summarize, our art show was a showcase of three galleries: The Pirate Art Gallery (which I'll be featuring in this blog post), The Glow Gallery (our first black light gallery that was a HUGE hit!) and our Grade Level Galleries which feature every work of art that the kids have created all year long. 
My art room, shown here, was the Pirate Gallery. Each year, I use my art room as a gallery to feature our 3-D projects. You can see what last year's Super Hero themed gallery looked like here, here and here
This display is one that was seen upon entering my art room. Normally, this area is used as our "early finisher" area with a foam rug and lots of building activities such as blocks and sculpture toys. About a month before the art show, I packed up the carpet and started prepping displays in that area. This first display showcases the work by all of my fourth graders and two classes of my first grade. 
My fourth graders created these Coral Reel Relief projects from kiln fire clay. This was a one hour clay project that they totally rocked. I've not had a chance to share the lesson details or a video with you but hope to very soon. Instead of glazing these, I decided to have the kids use metallic craft store paint. I started by dunking the bisque fired pieces in diluted India ink (any brand works great) and having the kids paint them with inexpensive craft store paints. The results were so pretty!
 I cannot wait to share this lesson with you!
Mixed amongst the fourth grade pieces were the first grade fish! You can find the clay lesson for the fish here, complete with video. While our theme was pirates, I also added a lot of ocean life projects too. 
The fish were glazed and had to be fired on metal stilts as they were glazed on both sides. The base was dunked in diluted sand-colored paint and the kids painted the bases with the same metallic paints as the fourth grade pieces. Then I had the pleasure of gluing together with a hot glue gun and a chopstick!
At the bottom of the table are the fourth grader's Pirate Ships in a Bottle...another lesson I'm excited to share with you soon. More closer photos in a moment...but let's move on from here and over to the next couple of displays. 
I created these giant banners a month before the art show. I plan to tell you how but here's a little secret: they were easier than they look. In a future post, I'll also share how I hung these to the wall. This was a great way to add more excitement to the pirate art show AND hide that big mess of an art room behind it. 
Under the treasure chest banner was a display of my second grader's treasure chests! This project was easily everyone's favorite and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. These second graders were STOKED to take these home.
The treasure chests were created from boxes covered in plaster and decorated with Model Magic details. We even created "gold" coins from scraps of cay and metallic paint. Each student got a "loot bag" that I stamped with a Jolly Rodger. I just happened to have a bunch of draw string bags in my stash so that worked out perfectly.
My third graders created two clay projects, one of them being these pirate ships!
 The ship lesson is actually one adapted from my clay book! You can scoop up my clay book here...it's written for kids who don't have access to a kiln. So if you are a kilnless art teacher, this book is for you! BUT many of the lessons can also be used for kiln fired clay. So it's an equal opportunity book. 
 The ships were also dunked in a terra cotta colored paint and sparkle was added with metallic. 
Sails were created from...can you guess? Toilet paper tubes! The kids had to hole punch through the tube to slide the straw down. I had a stash of paper straws in my closet for us to use. I did have to hot glue the sails in place which didn't take too long. 
Around the corner from the other displays was this one. This display featured the work of my second and third graders. 
My second graders, in addition to creating their treasure box sculptures, they also made these Pirate Parrots! These are pinch pot birds with fun dangly legs. 
Some had made their parrots with eye patches, pirate hats, you name it. Each had a wonderfully fun personality, just like the artist!
 Third grade, in addition to their pirate ships, they also made these coral reef relief. 
 These were created similarly to the fourth graders pieces but on a smaller scale. They were also painted in the same manner. 
When finished painting, the kids used Twisteez wire and beads to create a hanger for their piece.  
Around the corner, we had more second grade treasure chests, more first grade fish and more third grade pirate ships.
 Fourth grade also created these ships in a bottle which were a lot of fun. We used cardboard recycled from the cafeteria, painted papers and Model Magic for the boats. More lesson details to come!
 This project was a big hit with the kids!
 A lesson that I'd definitely do again. 
To display, I simply hot glued them to the bottom of the paper table cloth.
The last displays I'm sharing featured the work of my kindergarten, more treasure chests by second grade, more pirate parrots by second and some fish by first. 
My kindergarten actually created two clay projects...one was displayed in the glow gallery and I'll be sharing that in a future blog post. 
 This is a clay project from my book also! I've been doing it for years with my kindergarten kiddos and it is ALWAYS a success for each child. Gotta love that!
 Thank you for joining me on this tour of the pirate art gallery! Be sure and pop by at the end of this week...more videos and tours to come!

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Monday, March 25, 2019

My Fave Clay Lessons of All Times (with Video!)

Hey, artsy friends! I'm comin' at you in the midst of clay week(s) at my school...which has me thinkin' all things clay. I've shared MANY clay projects on this blog (most with how-to video) and I thought I'd compile them here today. Feel free to use them in your art teacherin' world...just be sure and credit the original source and don't sell my content on TPT (yes, that's happening. I hate a disclaimer but here we are). Anyway, follow the links to the original blog posts for lesson details, videos and more!

Before we get to the lessons tho, I thought I'd share my two videos all about clay. 
And this one is all about glaze. I hope that they help!
Wait, WHAT?! YOU DON'T HAVE A KILN?

Well, no problem! I wrote a whole book filled with 52 clay projects for the kiln-less...although many of the projects in this book could also be done with kiln fire clay. Get you a copy here! 
Now, on with the lessons!

1. Cats and Dogs Sculptures! One thing my kids always love to create are animals. I usually do a theme for my art shows and on this particular year, we were raising funds for the local no-kill animal shelter. We created these cute pets. Complete instructions right here. 
2. Party Pandas! One year, our theme for our art show was Asia and my fourth graders created these little pandas with big personality. I love these sunbathing pandas! More details here. 
3. Clay Chameleons! If you are looking for a project that all kids will love and be successful with, check out this one! Our theme was Pet Shop and my third graders rocked this. Try glazing these with the glaze that has specks of glass in it for some real oohs and ahhs! Lesson video here.
4. First Grade Fish! How cute are these? I'm thinking of bringing this lesson back this year to go along with our pirate theme. You can check out the complete lesson with video here!
5. Spring Flowers! If you are looking for a spring themed project, have I got one for you. My kids loved this lesson but REALLY enjoyed making the little insects and butterflies on their flowers the most. I love when the kids tell a story with their clay. Lesson here. 
6. Painted Elephants Inspired by India! In keeping with our Asian theme a couple years ago, we created these PRECIOUS painted elephants. My fourth graders got so creative with this lesson that just seeing these melts my heart! All the details here.
 7. Bobble Head Pets! Did I mention that we like to sculpt animals? Cuz we like to sculpt animals. Complete details on these bobble head pets and video right here. 
8. Exotic Birds! Remember how I said the elephants were my favorite? Well, these guys place a close second. They did require some assembly for me and my parent volunteers but we didn't mind because LOOK HOW FUN! Lesson and video here.
 9. Texture Turtles by Kindergarten! That's right, kindergarten! We LOVE this lesson as it involves stepping on our clay and leaving behind our cool shoe tread texture. Lesson and video here. 
10. Kindergarten Butterflies! When doing clay with kindergarten, I always have them work with a lot of texture...texture and clay are a match made in heaven! Also, note how we "glazed" these...there are so many alternatives to glazing. So if you can't use glaze, check out how these were finished off! 
11. First Grade Fish! Yes, more fish! These were also painted in same manner as the butterflies. Colored with oil pastel and dip-dyed into black ink. If you've not tried this technique, you really outta! 
12. Gnome Homes! Did I mention that I like to use texture with clay? Cuz I like to use texture with clay! These gnome homes are always a hit with my students AND when I host craft nights for friends! Details here. 
13. Chinese Dragons! Remember that Asian theme I mentioned? Well, this was the third grader's contribution to that. They loved making these dragons. Super fun and simple lesson here!
14. Initials Plaques! This is one of those projects that I often return to because it is always a hit with the kids. This is also a great lesson if you are short on time and clay. Details can be found here. 
15. Pinch Pot Friends! All our kiddos need to know how to make a pinch pot...so much can be created from this simple vessel. Like these sweet pinch pot friends. Check out the blog post for details. 
16. Texture Tacos! Y'all, this is a lesson I did with my kindergarten and they ROCKED IT! Not to mention, they had a blast. All the details along with a video can be found here. 
17. Kindergarten Birds! That's right, kindergarten! We loved creating these and each one was as wild and wacky as the next. All the details here!
18. Pinch Post Pets! First grade made these cuties one year and I cannot get over them. Look at that attention to glazing detail! Lesson here. 
19. Coffee and Donuts! Okay, so this blog post actually DOES NOT have each project in detail because at the time it was written, I was working on my clay book! So the projects you see here can be found in my book. 
20. Fabulous Frogs! And, last but not least, these here fabulous frogs. This was also apart of our spring theme...and I just love the personalities of each. All the details here. 

I cannot wait to share with you what my kids are creating for our pirate themed art show...but if you want to stay in the know, you should totally follow me here! 


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