Clay Kids Camps

This was the first clay camp for K-2nd graders. It was a learning experience. I found that I do not like air dry clay to much. It is a bit too fragile and kids art work broke easily. Overall, I was able to fire a majority of the clay projects and have them ready for painting by Friday. I plan have more clay projects that will be fired in the kiln next time and have the kids come back for an extra day to finish painting. Here are some of the pictures. I will post images of the final glazed ceramics in about a week or so.

Clay Turtles

We used acrylic paint on the air dry clay and then covered it with modpodge on the to make it shiny. For most of the ceramics we used underglaze that I will glaze and fire in the kiln.

Clay fish, pinch pots, and name plaques.
More clay fish, coil pots and necklace pendants.

Clay vases. This was my favorite of the projects. I just wish we had not done it with air dry clay. You live and learn.
This is what it looks like from the back. The vase holds the flower and also keeps it standing up right.Some of the finished projects.

4th Grade: Finished Clay People

Here are the finished clay people. Some the character here include Two Face, girl artists, army guys, athletes and I think there is a Yoda in there some where. The kids love this project.

5th Grade: Ceramic Plaque Relief

Every year I have the 5th grader create ceramic plaque relief. I give the students two classes to draw their design on a square piece of paper that is the same size as their clay. I give them options to choose from for their design such as an animal, landscape, space scene, architecture, etc. They can draw their design from their imagination or use an image to help them.

The class before we start working with clay, I will give a demonstration on the steps to creating their design on the clay slab. They are to use a square template to cut the shape out.

Next, they lay their square drawing on top of the clay and trace.

Then, they take pieces of clay and start attaching the pieces to areas of the design they want to raise off the flat surface. One thing I suggest to the kids is to raise the areas that are closes to the viewer. Meaning if there is a tree in back and a tree in front, raise the tree in front more than the tree in back.

After I fire all the clay, I spray paint the ceramic with flat black so that when the kids paint over it with acrylic they will end up with black lines and bold color.

One thing I have trouble with is keeping the plaques from curling while they dry. I am trying to figure out a solution and will post what I come up with.

Here are some of the final results. You can spray paint a clear gloss coat to help the art work look shiny and finished looking.

Pinch Pots and Tempra Paint

About a year and half ago I went to a art teacher convention. I had a great time learning new projects, meeting other art teachers and of course the free samples. I was in the show room looking at ceramic tools and different underglazes for clay projects. I ended up talking to this other art teacher and we both commented on the fact that paint for ceramics are always so expensive. She mentioned to me that she had some tempera cakes and used it to paint on the fired ceramic pieces. To give the paint a glossy look and bring out the color she said to add a glossy spray paint on top of the tempera. Well, I just tried it out in preparation for my summer clay camp and I had great results. This is the kind of stuff that I love. Finding a way to use materials in different ways and saving money is awesome!