Kindergarten Clay

The kindergarten artists were thrilled to begin working with clay in the art room. We began with an exploration of clay during our "Clay Play Day," in which the students could test out the material. The students learned that clay is actually a special kind of mud mixed with water and comes from the earth. This time of open-ended exploration allows young artists to learn about the flexibility of a material, how they can manipulate it to make different shapes and forms and make observations about what happens to the clay's consistency when water is added or removed from the material. They made imaginative turtles, snowmen, snakes, castles, pancakes and much, much more!

In our next art class, the kindergarteners were introduced to the ancient technique of making coil pots. They started out forming a ball of clay which they then flattened to create a "cookie." Using smaller pieces of clay, they created "snakes," "worms," or coils to attach to their cookie. The students learned that a mixture of water and clay called slip works as the glue for the clay. They carefully added slip with a sponge between coils. As they added height to their coil pots that also added "funky snakes" or decorative coils to add visual interest their pots. Some students even created lids and handles for their pots. We can't wait for the pots to dry so that we can add beautiful colored glazes!