Kindergarten Clay – Lesson Plan

KINDERGARTEN CLAY – PINCH POTS

Some Kindergarten clay pots before they go into the kiln!

Materials:

• Clay (1/2lb – ¾lb), about the size of an orange.
• Tennis ball in sock (in the kiln room)
• Freezer paper for a work board.
• a piece of damp paper towel, 1 per student.  I usually get as many towels as there are kids +1 (for my demonstration project), set them all in one pile, run them under the water, and wring them out, separate and set over the clay while it sits at the table (so it doesn’t dry out).  It can also be used to moisten fingers for smoothing out rough spots.

Making Clay Project: (Day one)

1. Roll clay into a round ball.
2. Stand up.  Look down directly on the clay ball.  Imagine it is an orange.  Make a dent using an index finger where the imaginary orange stem would be.  Remove index finger.
3. Push your thumb downwards at the dent.  Expand the dent to form a hole that extends to ½” of the bottom.
4. Hold the clay ball with one hand.  Place the thumb of the other hand inside the hole, and the remaining fingers around the sides of the clay ball.  Pinch the clay between your thumb and fingers.  Continue pinching while rotating the pot slowly with the pinching hand.  Continue pinching until the mouth of the pot is the size of a tennis ball.
5. Place the ball on the table, and invert the pot and place it over the stocking tennis ball.
6. Gently pat the bottom of the pot.  Turn the pot slowly while patting and smoothing the outside of the pot.
7. After the shape is completed, remove the tennis ball.
8. Smooth out any areas the kids want to smooth.
9. The adults should check each pot to make sure it is not too thick or too thin, and should make changes where needed.

Glazing Project: (Day two)

The Grade Level Coordinator and the Clay Coordinator will fire all the clay projects and have them ready for the glazing class at the end of the month.

1. Grade Level Coordinators will schedule all classes to glaze on the same date. Each class will come in for 30 minutes with a 15 minute turnover time between classes.  Have each teacher request extra volunteers on this day.
2. Cover tables with plastic. 
3. Put a small amount of glaze in a plastic bowl.   Have colors available on each table for the students to choose from.  Have 2 or 3 brushes at each color.  The brushes should stay with only one color.  Switch to the next color’s brush if adding another color.  Apply 2 layers of glaze.  
4. Glaze over the name and date
5. If a clay piece is cracked, use extra glaze in that location to strengthen it.
6. Please return any extra glaze to its container.
7. After the students complete their glazing, the adults will coat the projects with a clear glaze.