Pinch Pot Pets

The second graders also worked with clay at the end of the year. The project: a pinch pot pet. We started our exploration with drawing and I created a worksheet for a roll-a-pet (where you draw different parts of an animal based on what dice numbers are rolled)

I demoed the basic building techniques of a pinch pot, coil and scratch and attach to put pieces together. Then I let them go, creating a pinch pot body and attaching whatever features they liked. Once the clay was dry, the creatures were painted; some students chose to add a glossy finishing coat.

Pop Art Food Sculptures

A continual theme this year with 4th and 5th grade has been pop art. It is fun and easily tied to many of the areas we explored (see Lichtenstein portraits and Warhol inspired prints).

We looked at the work of Claes Oldenburg and Wayne Thiebaud as our inspiration. Every time I decide to do a clay project, I am apprehensive. One year, despite laying down ground rules and consequences for the class, I had a middle schooler deliberately throw clay onto the ceiling. The spot of impact remains to this day, and somehow all the kids have heard rumblings of the story. Needless to say, they still ask how it got there.

But clay is fun and worth it if it means a class will get in an annual 3D project. I showed the class the basic building techniques: building a clay cupcake using a pinch pot, coil and scratching and attaching the pieces together. I wanted to give them inspiration but also the freedom to create their own food sculpture. In the end I had a few cupcakes and other sweet delicacies, but also some variety.

We spent time sketching ideas before I passed out any clay. Building with clay took two or three classes, and then finished pieces were left out to dry. The final class was spent painting and decorating with puffy paint and glitter glue details.