Coil project for Kindergarten

Kindergarten clay snails

Hot glue was used to secure the pipe cleaner and eyes into place

I am totally in love with these with clay coil snails.  I must admit, this is not my original idea and I have no idea where I first spotted it or who I "borrowed" it from.  But kuddos to them because this was a slam dunk project.   My kinders created two coils to form the snails.  One is for the base and head the other is for the body.  After they went through the kiln for a bisque firing, they were completed with liquid watercolors, a pipe cleaner and some googly eyes.  Two class periods for completion but super easy and a great way to experience the process to make a coil.  This will definitely be a repeat lesson.

I used a straw to put holes in the head for the placement
of the pipe cleaners prior to firing

students twisted their own pipe learners.  Some were
more savvy at this than others.

5th grade Bobble Heads

I was so pleased with the results of 5th grade clay bobble heads this year.  They were very creative with their various approaches to the assignments.  Here are a few photos and videos.

Student's wolf

Student's Elephant

Student's monkey with a banana

Puppy by student.  I was impressed by how she placed the
front feet on the bobble and the back feet on the base.

It's clay time!

Loading the kiln

I pushed my clay unit off until after February Break this year.  Here we are at week four and the greenware is going into the kiln.  I taught a few of the old standbys with the kids and threw in a few new projects this year as well.  Third grade explored the Egyptian burial process and are creating Canopic Jars.  We stepped into Ancient Greece for fourth grade and they are created urns to be decorated with slip or underglaze with geometric patterns.  Clay is a favorite unit of the year.  In about a month I will post some of the completed projects.

Canopic jars - the Jackal was a very popular choice

A powerpoint for the Canopic lesson

Kindergarten snowmen 2016

A crowd

I do this project every year with my Kinders.  I am sure I have posted it here before but had to add it again because of this picture.  The snowmen are a preface to working with clay after the first of the year.  Students practice forming spheres, cones and snakes using model magic.  The nose is formed by a tooth pick, painted orange, the arms are sticks from a bush in my yard and sharpies are used to add other details.  These are always individual and unique.  Sometimes they even appear melted and ill-shaped; just like real snowmen would.  I try to display them in the case at the front office for the weeks prior to Holiday break.  This is what they looked like when I gather them up to redistribute to the kids to take home.

Student works - they are color coded by class

Student work

Student work

Clay Bobble Heads

Unloaded the first group of bobble heads from the kiln today.  This is the first time I have tried this project with my students.  These were done by 4th graders.  I think the kids will be so excited.  I was so thrilled to see these.  My students continually amaze and delight me with their work.  

Looks like Yellow Snow!

One of my student created this during our clay unit in the after school Art Club.  He used neon tempera paints to add the color and we grabbed the stick arms from the tree out front.  Too cute, don't you think??

Painted houses

Latest projects from the Art Club.  Student build little clay houses and then painted them after learning about the painted houses of Burkina Faso, a village in Western Africa.  The women of the village work together to adorn new homes with geometric design work prior to the new residents moving in.  Most of the work is done with black and white paint only although the ancient practice included the color red.  Learn more about the practice here. 

Third Grade Clay Owls

Third grade students work with slabs for their clay project.  Instead of glazing, they paint with neon tempera paints.  The results are so much fun!

Clay time...firing the kiln

I've been managing the kiln all week.  Four loads later and almost everything is fired.  I have half of everything with a coat of wax resist on the bottom.  The kids are eager to glaze so I've really been putting in the extra time to complete them all.  Hopefully we will glaze the end of the month.  These are the bobble heads from 4th grade.  First time I've tried this project so I am hoping I can get them to bobble.  The kids did some really cute things with the assignment.  I'll post when they are completed.

It's clay time!!!

Supplies

Demonstration using a document camera

Organization

Without a doubt, my favorite project to teach to my elementary students is clay.  Enthusiasm is contagious so it is a highlight for my kids as well.  It's a lot of work but I completely transform my teaching space for the time we work on clay.  Here are some of the ways I do that.  The white rolling shelf is a purchase from when KB Toys was liquidating years ago.  Because we live in the town of  the headquarters for KB, we were able to snatch up some really cool things that have proved to be a terrific asset to my classroom.  I will admit that I purchased them knowing that one day I would eventually retire and be able to utilize them in my own clay studio.   This shelf unit was purchased with further use in mind.  For now I use it to load up all of the supplies that we need to use to make it through the day.  Everything is readily available and it makes for an easy clean up at the end of each class as well.  With the purchase of the gray cart last school year, I was able to set up a demonstration area using my document camera as well.  It's great how everyone has a clear visual as I demonstrate and there are no questions about just what my hands are doing to roll a coil or pinch a pot.  The youngest kids think it's pretty magical that they can see my hands so well and further that they are so big!!!  I also distribute clay right from my demonstration table which gives me more control over waste.  This view is my classroom from the other angle.  The second cart holds all the boxes of clay so I don't have to run back and forth to the storage area for more clay.  I also been a plastic tub there for dry or excess clay scraps so I can recycle them later for reuse or to create slip.  I store the student work each week on the white rolling shelves.  These

are also courtesy of KB Toys.  They were donated several years ago to the school district.  I usually use them to hold student's work by class.  Each self is a class and I have an additional shelf just for Kindergarten work.   For clay, I Velcro plastic to seal up the shelves and keep moisture trapped in the work.  Student work is also individually wrapped on the shelves.  This helps me retain the dampness of the clay so students can continue to work for 3 - 4 weeks.   The best thing is that everything is on wheels and easy to move around the classroom if needed. Tables are covered with canvas that is years old and reused each year.  I have plastic table clothes under the canvas and they are all held into place using picnic table clips that I bought on clearance one year at the end of summer.  I have students sitting in tables of eight making it easy for me to move in and around and assist as needed. This final picture is the happy teacher that Loves, Loves, Loves workings with clay sporting her #ClayHands button from Art of Education.  

 I hope your are enjoying what ever you are doing with your students right now as well!

Happy Art Teacher

The thrill of the kiln

This is the best work this student created all year.  I was so proud!

Let me just say that I Love being surprised by the creativity of my students.  As I've shared with you before, clay is the unit I enjoy teaching most each year.  Clay has always been my personal favorite medium so sharing it with my students is the ultimate excitement for me.  The best time of the year is opening the kiln after the glaze firing and discovering all the wonderful treasures.  There were so many amazing works this year that I decided to just share them all with you.  So this lengthy post will be photo heavy.  When my students came into class this week their projects were waiting with a rubric to be used for self assessment of their work.

 After completing the rubric, they flipped the paper and wrote an artist statement about their work that was to be posted on Artsonia along with the picture of their clay project.  This was a very enlightening process for students and myself.  I really appreciated reading their own reflections about their work and the writing stimulated many private conversations concerning what might be done differently the next time they worked with clay.  This was especially helpful for me as I worked with the fourth grade students that I will work with again next year.  I also found that most of the students were much harder on their work that I would be when I grade it.  I was thrilled to read most of their comments and to learn more about the motivation behind their choices.  These are some of the standout pieces for me.  They were all created by 4th and 5th grade students and are representations from the two schools I am assigned to.

Not your average turtle, a sea turtle

An elephant with a basket on his back

I'm not sure what this is from but he really focused on detail

An Eagle

This little bird is removeable from the nest

We added some twistee wire for the antenna 

Nice coiled snake

These giraffe necks are challenging

Don't you love the shades

Bunny with basket and carrot

Monkey

Cute bird with really long legs

Bird with outstretched wings

Another removable bird in the nest

Amazing balance with this one

Great texture

The detail in this face is fabulous

A standing unicorn

Godzilla

This seahorse was only about 3" tall

Amazing detail and texture

Another fabulous dog

Wonderful standing rabbit

cute face and bow tie on this unicorn

This elephant is about 7" tall

wonderful squirrel

nicely personalized owl. 

Another elephant

original platypus

A person

Coiled snake

Another rabbit

This boy spent so much time and effort on this
spiked creature

Another interesting elephant

waddling penguin

Ready to pounce

very detailed duck

sweet face kitty

penguin with ice cube

crocodile

bird with nest

amazing antlered deer

dog waiting for a hug

owl

great bird