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.

K-2nd Creative Kids Art Camp: Summer 2010

Hello all! I know I have been gone for a while. I have had a pretty busy summer so far and took a break from blogging.

I had an art camp last week with K-2nd graders and had a really fun time. I was able to experiment with new techniques and try out some art projects from my fellow art teachers in the blogging community. Sharing is just grand! I wanted to post some images of the kids and their projects so you can see what we are up to. I will probably break down a couple of the projects.

Also, I am starting a new blog called Click and Drag. It's focus is on exploring technology. I have been teaching computer for the past couple of years and want to share some of my ideas and experiences. Next week I will be having a digital art camp so for all you art teachers who are looking to integrate some technology and art, you might want to take a peek.

I found this at Miss Tabarcea's blog. She had a great video lesson on this project. The kids really enjoyed it and it was very easy to do.

These projects are from Deep Space Sparkle. It was the "Red Fish, Blue Fish" project she did that was based on the Dr. Seuss Book. I showed the kids how to draw the fish either standing up or from the side. I just love how bright and colorful these paintings turned out.


We also did scratch art, evening cityscapes. The kids colored with oil pastels that filled the entire 9x12 piece of paper and then painted over the pastels with black acrylic paint. The kids then used scratch sticks to draw in the skyline. Pretty easy!


We did a few more projects and I will post more of those later.

OCS Spring Art Show

Here are some of the photos I took of this years OCS spring art show. We hold a music program that the kids perform and afterward the parents are able to come into the fellowship hall to view their child's art. I was happy at this point because this was the final art show for the year and everything came together beautifully.

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.

2010 Rotary Chalk Festival

Every year the Rotary Club of Orlando holds an annual chalk festival. I usually have two 6th grade groups participating and I tend to work on my own square. If you haven't had the chance to do a chalk drawing, it is an amazing experience that will totally hook you and your students. Though, neither myself or my students won a prize we all had a great time getting messy!

David and Frank

Rachel and Tiffany

The square I was working on.
Before.

After.
I know, I know. I have some proportion issues.

Drawing Books

Does anyone have those few students in each of your art classes that always finish way sooner than anybody else? I certainly do. I usually would let them work on free draw which has worked out really well over the last couple of years. Not to0 long ago I got an extra How-to-Draw book from the librarian and used this as a free draw option. The kids loved it. When I went looking for some more free draw books I stumbled across a series of drawing book by Ed Emberley. Apparently, he has been around for a long time. His drawing are just wonderful! Students from all different ages really enjoy his books because they are easy enough for kindergarten and have a lot of variety that the older students enjoy.