Pinch Pot Mania!!!

Students this week are learning about CLAY and TEXTURE and how to make a pinch pot. We will discuss how clay comes from the ground, can be different colors (gray, white, brown, reddish-orange) and has a texture. Texture is the way something feels: bumpy, smooth, soft, hard, squishy, rough, etc.

On the learning carpet, the children will feel their hair, clothes and shoes and describe the texture. I will show pictures of Native American pottery to give the children inspiration for making their pinch pot. To create a pinch pot, the children follow the steps:


1. Roll it (into a nice smooth ball of clay)
2. Thumb it (stick thumb in middle but not all the way through)
3. Pinch it (keeping the thumb in the hole and rest of the fingers on the outside, children are pinching the clay to make the hole bigger and   create the pot's walls)
4. Check it (have Mrs. Varda make sure the pinch pot walls are not too thin or thick)
5. Smooth it (rubbing away all the little cracks)

Clay takes around 7-12 days to dry. After that, I will fire their pinch pot in the kiln. The children will be painting colored glazes over the top to make their pots safe for eating and drinking from and very colorful.

 Students rolling the clay.

 Students pinching the clay.