I don't have a kiln, so my 4th graders made these coil pots with air-dry clay and painted them with school acrylics. We also used an acrylic gloss to give them a hard shine. The kids were SO excited to make these little coil pots. For some reason or other, the boys were especially into this project!
I love the colors and the acrylic gloss does give them a shine.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a kiln either and the last time I tried to bake the clay project I had a little explosion in the oven.
I think I will wait until I get a kiln.
Hi. Did you make the clay? I would like to do the same for my class of 20 students. I was wondering how much I would need to go around.
ReplyDeleteMiriam, no, I did not make the clay. Too much else to do in the life of an art teacher!!! These were made with either of two kinds of decent quality air dry clay, that was purchased in 25 lb. cartons - either 'Marblex' or 'Mexican Pottery Clay'. The Marblex is a gray color, and the other is a reddish brown. There is definitely higher priced better quality air dry clay that is REALLY sturdy, but it is too high priced for a bulk purchase in my opinion. The cheaper stuff is really awful and doesn't hold together well.
DeleteFor one class of 20 students, you could easily get by on one carton of the clay. I always demonstrated one day, and then the next art class, with the instructions written on the board, the kids came in to find supplies ready, and small blocks of clay prepared for them - I sliced it up into pieces maybe 1"x2"x3" for starters. They were instructed to tear off a piece to roll out for the base (just 2 or 3" in diameter, generally), trim it to shape, and then get right to work. They could build their piece as high as they wanted within the 40 minute class. When the work time was up, they had to stop wherever they were and call it done. If while working, they ran out of clay, they could return for another lump, until I had no more left or no time left. Some kids are MUCH faster than others.
I also premixed slip to place on the tables for them to score and slip as they put on new coils. Without it, they will fall apart!