A look at Finished clay items

Glazing pinch pots and painting Pendants

Last week, students were super busy glazing their pinch pot and painting their pendant. They learned why glaze is important and painted a color pattern on the outside of their pot, while keeping a single color in the middle. 

The pendants are painted with metallic acrylic paint so it doesn't rub off on clothes when the child wears it. 

Clay Textured Pendants

Students worked with a different color clay today...gray clay that turns white when fired! We discussed TEXTURE and felt our shirt, pants, shoes and hair. We reviewed how the clay from last week felt and realized that anything we can touch has texture. We looked at jewelry made by Native Americans (even though they didn't use clay, but still a connection) and from Olympians with their medals to understand what a pendant looked like and how they could all look different.
I gave each child a small chunk of clay. They rolled it into a smooth ball, put it down on a fabric mat that was on the floor and stepped on it 1 time. As soon as they were finished stepping on it and "oohing and ahhing", they brought their pendant to me and I poked a hole through (to be able to string these after they're fired and painted) and wrote their name on the back. Students will be painting these after Winter Break too!
Students will also string these and add beads if they choose and wear them home. :-) 

Clay Pinch Pots

Students were introduced to CLAY!!!!! I LOVE teaching clay to kinders. We discussed how clay comes from the ground and how it is different from play-doh. I told them many things can be made from clay including items at home. I showed pictures of clay pots, bowls and vases from a Native American pottery book for inspiration and that this type of art is 3 dimensional. I explained to the children that a long time ago, Native American people used clay to make their bowls, cups, plates and vases because they didn't have stores like Target or Macy's to buy those things. I went on adding that they were going to make a little bowl called a PINCH POT, that they too could eat and drink from when finished.


We discussed how the clay felt: cold, hard, soft, bumpy.


To make a pinch pot, students:
    1. rolled their clay into a smooth ball
    2. stuck their thumb into the middle of the ball
    3. checked their thumb hole to make sure it didn't go all the way through the bottom
    4. put their thumb back in the hole and used their fingers to pinch the clay creating a larger hole/opening.
    5. continued pinching around in a circle until the clay turned into a bowl.
    6. checked their clay piece with me so I could make sure it wasn't too thick or thin. (if too thick, I had students continue pinching)
    7. smooth out the cracks/bumps.
    8. bring pinch pot to me so I could write their name on the bottom.




After Winter Break, students will glaze their pinch pots.

Native American Teepee

Students were introduced to PATTERN and looked at different Native American teepees. We discussed the shape of a teepee being a cone (but that we were going to use a triangle shape for ours since it is 2d).


Children received a brown piece of construction paper. Using a black Sharpie, students drew 2 diagonal straight lines to make a triangle. They showed proper use of scissors and cut out the shape, turned it over and drew the opening/door of the teepee. After that, they used construction paper crayons to make a design at the bottom of the teepee and then start their AB patterns. Students were required to draw a shape pattern, line pattern and color pattern. If students needed more of a challenge, I had them create ABC and AABB patterns.