1st Grade's next unit of study is all about how the things artists create can be useful in our everyday lives, as well as nice to look at. We discussed various ways we could use the things we make in art, which include decoration, gifts, cards, ornaments, toys, among other things. We then looked at a picture of ancient pottery-clay jugs, cups, and bowls, and thought about the things we have at home that resemble these artifacts. Pottery has been an art form that has been practiced for 1000s of years. Because clay is found in the earth, it is readily available to anyone to use, and can be found all over the world. After looking at some examples of pottery from America, Africa, China and Japan, we learned about the techniques used to make clay vessels. The method we focused on for this project is the "pinch" method, named so because we use out fingers to pinch the clay into the shape we want. We start by rolling our clay into a ball, then pressing our thumbs into the center. Keeping our thumbs in the middle, we place our other fingers on the outside of the ball and pinch our fingers and thumbs together, turning the clay, to create a
Pinch Pot. Once our pot is done, we have to decide how we will use it. Will it be a cup? a basket? a decorative bowl? To add a handle, we roll some extra clay into a
coil, or long clay rope, then we
score, or scratch the clay, and use
slip, or clay glue made from clay and water, to stick the handle to the pot. All other decorations and details must also be slipped on.
Once the clay dries for about a week, it is fired, or baked, in the kiln, which is a special oven designed to bake clay. The pieces are then ready for glazing. Glaze goes on like paint, but is actually made with a glass powder. The glazed pieces are then fired again. The firing process melts the glass in the glaze, giving the pots a shiny coat. The colors often come out much brighter as well after being fired.
The 1st Graders loved seeing their finished pots come out of the kiln for the second time. It was such a surprise to see the glossy texture and how the colors changed. We talked about how we would use the pinch pots when we took them home. Some kids made cups to use for drinking milk, water and coffee! Others made a bowl for their jewelry or small toy collections. Ask your 1st Grader how they plan on using their pinch pot!?
To see all of the finished pinch pots please visit
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