How to teach clay is a common question I get. Clay day is often the one art day kids have waited for all year. Kids ask me all the time, when are we having clay day? With all that hype and excitement, you want to feel prepared and have the best lessons and experience for your students. Here’s how to have a successful clay day!
How to Teach Clay Step One
I think it is important to model steps and procedures with my students. Therefore, I have created many clay tutorials on my YouTube channel. I show my students the clay tutorial before distributing clay so they can see the big picture and I can discuss procedures and techniques prior to getting clay in their hands. After clay has been distributed, I show the video in smaller clips to chunk the lesson into small steps. I will also loop a video to play continuously while I am helping other students. A full list of all the YouTube tutorials I use is at the end of this post.
If time permits, I will give my students oil based clay and even PlayDoh to practice rolling coils, making pinch pots or making stable legs for animals. In addition, I provide students with time to plan and sketch ideas prior to clay distribution.ย ย
Distributing Clay and Clay Tools
Whenever I teach clay, I always pre-cut my clay before class begins to give the students more time to work and reduce idle time. As pictured, I use a large sealing storage container and layer the clay pieces in the container with damp washcloths in between layers to prevent clumping and to keep the clay moist. Distribution is easy, students make a line and grab their clay mat (a 12โ x 18โ piece of cotton fabric), a caddy with tools and slip and a piece of clay. If a second piece of clay is necessary, older students are trained to get their second piece from the container as needed. Otherwise, I pop the container on a cart and wheel it around to deliver their second piece of clay while they are working.ย
Storage & Coding Projects
Make sure you have enough room for storing the clay pieces before you commit to creating them. I have a shelving system, which works great for ‘in progress clay’ and drying clay. I label each shelf with the class name or period and I use resealable storage bags for ongoing clay projects. Students write their names on the bags with a permanent marker. In fact, I reuse the bags for several projects, the students just cross out the previous name and write their name. Reuse, reduce and save your art budget!!
It is important to have a code for each class. For younger students I write their initials on the bottom of the clay project either when they are working or as they finish. While I am writing their initials I use a series of dots (literally just a dot made by a pencil) as their class code.
For example, if it is 1st grade pinch pots, Mondayโs group will get one dot, Tuesday will have 2 dots, Wednesday 3, etc. Same thing with older students, 1st period one dot and 2nd period 2 dots, etc. Each grade level is usually making a different clay lesson, so the most dots any project would have would be 5 dots. The dots work great for any size project and can be made with a sharpened pencil.
How to Fire Clay
The BEST firing advice I can give you, donโt rush the drying process! Slabs can crack if they dry too fast. When my students have created slab projects, I place a loose plastic sheet over the top to slow the drying process. Pinch pots and similar projects can be thicker on the bottom, so I tend to flip them if possible after a day or two of drying to even the drying process. I plan for at least a week of drying. Once the clay is dry to the touch (bone dry) you can begin the firing process. When loading a bisque firing, slab work can be stacked and bowls can be placed inside one another to fit more pieces in at once. However, during a glaze firing, pieces cannot touch or they will adhere to one another.
Sending Clay Projects Home
For my younger artists, I will wrap their clay projects in newspaper for them and write their initials on the newspaper. You can use a planning period to do this or you can do this while they are decorating the paper bag they will use to take it home. I teach older students how to wrap their clay pieces with newspaper and provide them with paper bags to skip the taping process. I swear, some of them believe the more tape they use, the more it will be protected. Use bags and save the tape!
Unfortunately, I have also learned older students (middle school) like to destroy their clay pieces. To prevent that from happening, I require my students to take a picture of their intact clay piece at home and upload to Canvas for a final grade or have a written note from parents verifying they have seen it at home.ย
Building On Skills
When choosing which clay lesson to do for each grade level, I use a scope and sequence to build on prior knowledge. Here’s a breakdown of what I do for each grade level with links to my corresponding YouTube tutorials.
First Grade: I always start with a basic pinch pot.
Second Grade: I Introduce slip and score and attaching pieces together. We make a Clay Funny Face. This lesson is a hit with all ages and provides a lot of freedom for creativity.
Third Grade: I teach my students how to roll a slab. We make Clay Animal Facesย to introduce this concept. Students learn a new handbuilding technique and apply previous knowledge of slip and score.
Fourth Grade: Introduce the concept of coil construction. My students love the Clay Cupcake lesson.
Fifth Grade: I combine hand building skills, using a lesson calledย Clay Dragon which uses a combination of hand building techniques.
My elementary clay scope and sequence with video links
Middle School Scope and Sequence.
Sixth Grade: We start with a lesson that includes a pinch pot. My favorite lesson for teaching this is Clay BobbleHeads.
Seventh Grade: I combine handbuilding techniques, as well as coil and pinch pot techniques to create Coil Pottery.
Eighth Grade:ย My students use slab building to create a โFairy Houseโ. By 8th grade my students have experienced all three basic handbuilding techniques; pinch, coil and slab.
I also spend more time teaching my students about clay properties and the stages of clay. We also work on tools, hand building techniques, glazing, kiln information, and the difference between functional and non-functional pottery. The PowerPoint presentation and follow up assessment I use is available here.ย
I hope these tips on how to teach clay can make your next clay day less stress and more fun!ย – Trista
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