Ceramics

Although I did an introductory course in ceramics in high school, I would have never thought to teach to to elementary age students. But to my surprise, after learning a few of the most simplest techniques, it would be a great hands on activity for the students to practice sculpting and molding.

Teach students about the different types of clay that can be used, and some of the terminology. For example, "bone dry" is when the clay is bone dry and brittle. "Green" means the clay is still wet and mold-able. All clay can be molded/sculpted until it has been "fired"- being put in the kiln and essentially, baked. Once clay has been fired, it can't be molded anymore, but it can be "glazed"- a paint like substance painted over top to create a glaze. Glazes come in all sorts of different colors, and different glazes can be used for different affects.

The easiest explanation about the different glazes and processes I found is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic_glaze

Materials:
- Clay
- Glaze
- Kiln
- Sponges
- Water
- Basic ceramic tools

Process:
1. To start my pinch put, I used about a handful of clay and began molding it.
     a. This might also be a good time to teach some of those techniques and terminology that I mentioned earlier. For example, show how to knead clay (just like kneading bread), and "throw" it.
                i. Throw: Throw the clay on a hard, flat surface at an angle. It should slowly turn into a "slab", a    long flat piece of clay.


2. Roll the clay into a ball and create a hole in the center with your finger.

3. Slowly pinch with one finger inside the center hole, and another finger on the outside of the ball, in a circular motion around the circumference of the circle.


4. Keep pinching until you have about 1/4 inch thickness around all sides of the pot.

5. You can shape it into different shapes, for example, I shaped mine into a heart.

6. These are examples of some of the other projects that were done.
      a. The mugs were long slabs that were brought together with "slip"- really soft clay mixed with water. It's like glue in ceramics.

7. After firing once, I glazed mine, and it looked like this. You can't glaze on the bottom of the piece, wherever it will touch the kiln or else it will fuze together.

8. After it was fired the second time, the finished product looked like this!

This project took a couple of days, but the end results last forever and would be really fun to make as a class.