Ice Cream Cones

Claes Oldenburg "Floor Burger"

The Pop Art style food sculptures of Claes Oldenburg inspired these fun ice cream cone wall sculptures. This is also a great project to discuss 3-D shapes with students.  Have students roll out a slab of clay that is about 3/8th of an inch thick.  I give students a paper template that will make a cone shape when wrapped up, this will also determine how large you want your ice cream cones to be (this one is about 15" tall).  Have students trace the template and cut it out, then wrap up the clay into a cone shape.  Scratch-to-attach the edges together well and let the cone rest wide part down while they add any cone texture they'd like with tools.

Next, using another piece of clay, students will make a sphere about the size of an orange, then make that sphere into a pinch pot by pushing their thumbs into the middle and squeezing around the sides.  This will make the ice cream scoop on top.  Its OK if the pinch pot has lumps or dents on it, it will make it look like a realistic scoop of ice cream.  Advanced students can make a double or triple scoop of ice cream, but be sure to put a hole between each of the scoops so that you are not trapping air (this will make the sculpture explode in the kiln!)

Scratch-to-attach the edges of the cone and the edges of the pinch pot so that they can attach them together.  HINT:  This part can be a little tricky especially if you are working fairly large.  Use some crumbled up newspaper stuffed inside the cone and pinch pot to help keep the shape while you blend the two together-it will burn out when you fire it in the kiln.  Have students take their time blending both parts together and make sure they are well attached.  The sculpture can be laying flat on the table now.  Have students choose the type of ice cream flavor they want and any extras like a cherry on top or sprinkles and scratch-to-attach them onto the ice cream.  When they are finished building, roll the sculptures over gently so that you can put a hole into the back of them, this will give you something to hang it by when you are finished and it will also prevent it from exploding in the kiln. Fire the pieces and then glaze them will the appropriate colors for the flavor of ice cream!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Textured Box

These sweet and simple boxes are a great way to introduce texture to young artists.  I love using the textured rubbing plates from Dick Blick Art Supplies for this project.

Start by rolling out a flat piece of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick (or about as thick as a pancake), then make sure that the surface is smooth.  Next choose your textured rubbing plate and lay it on top starting at one end of your clay.  Using a rolling pin, roll over the texture plate pushing down evenly as you go.  You can peel up one corner to check if you have pushed hard enough, if not roll some more, if it looks good peel up the rubbing plate.  If your clay is larger than your rubbing plate, you'll need to lay the rubbing plate down again in the blank clay area and roll in the texture again until the entire piece of clay is covered with your texture.

Next have your students cut out one square of clay (you can give paper templates for this if you think they need them).  Once they have one square cut out, have them lay it down on top of their clay in a new area and trace the first square so that the second one is exactly the same size.  Continue doing this until each student has 6 squares. If you run out of room on your clay to continue cutting out squares, squish all the small scrap pieces together, roll it out flat again and put the texture in again.  Now its time to assemble the box.

Pick one square that will be the lid and put it to the side.  Pick the square that will be the bottom and use a scratching tool to scratch all the edges, then scratch 3 sides of the remaining 4 squares.  Now that everything is scratched,  pick the first wall and attach it to the bottom of the box- it may be a little wobbly at first.  Next, attach the second wall to the bottom square and then squeeze the corners together being careful to not smooth out your textures.  Continue until all the walls are up.  Using your extra clay, create a knob for the lid and scratch-to-attach it on top.  You can also cut out a smaller square and attach it to the bottom of your lid so that it won't slid off the box.  These boxes make great gifts and are ready to hold special treasures!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Circle of Friends

For these very sweet Circle of Friends sculptures, I have students choose 4 - 6 people that are special to them to include in their sculpture.  We talk about what symbolism is and how to choose a symbol that would represent the person they are including.  

Start by rolling out a large slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and cut out the base piece for the sculpture.  Any shape is fine, it just needs to be big enough to fit all of the friends.  Next use gingerbread men cookie cutters or cut your own people shapes out, one for each person in the circle.  Then decorate each person with their symbol or give them their features, like hair clothes etc. Scratch-to-attach the feet and hands of each of your people shapes, then scratch approximately where they will go on the base piece and start assembling them. Its a little tricky to get all of the friends to stand up together at first, so I have students use a cup in the center of their circle so that the clay can lean on it until its dry enough to support itself.  You can also decorate the base piece with textures, patterns or symbols too.  Let them dry, bisque fire, glaze and glaze fire.

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Hand Soapdishes

These hand soap dishes are a two part project that will teach students the concept of positive and negative space.  You'll want to cover your tables with newspaper to make clean up easier.  To make the hands, each student needs to hold a small amount of plaster in their hand until it hardens.  I recommend doing only one hand since they have to sit still for 10 min while it hardens.  

Once students are ready, mix up a small batch of plaster and put it into palm of the students hands, make sure to cover the entire top surface but DO NOT get plaster underneath the hand or their hand will be trapped in the hardened plaster!  Once their hand is full, have them hold still until the plaster hardens (about 10 min).  The stiller they can be holding the plaster, the less chances of major cracking or breakage off the mold.  While the plaster starts to harden I explain to students how this will be the negative space of their hands and that we will use it like a stamp to create the positive space of their hand in clay.  You can show examples of positive and negative space in art too.

HINT: You may need to mix up multiple batches depending on the size of your class, try not to mix up to much at one time or it will harden before you get to pour it into their hand.  If you have never worked with plaster before, I recommend trying it out on your own before attempting with a class--it's a very manageable classroom material if you know what to expect!  

Once the plaster is hard, have students remove their hand slowly, small pieces will break off of the edges.  Write their name on the plaster and put aside to dry completely (12- 24 hours).  All of the crumbles of plaster should be wrapped up in the newspaper that you used to cover the tables and thrown away.  Make sure students wash their hands in a bucket not at the sink --plaster will clog up your sink!

For step two, you'll use the students plaster hand molds as a stamp and press clay into the mold.  I have students flatten out a piece of clay about the size of a large hamburger and lay that over the plaster mold.  Press the clay gently but firmly into every contour of the mold and then gently peel the clay away.  You should have a perfect positive of the mold with every detail showing.  You can use tools to trim and clean up the edges, make sure that you write each students name on the bottom of the clay hand (they will all look alike!)  Let them dry, bisque fire, glaze with a translucent glaze and glaze fire.  These hands make great soap holders or business card holders and make great Mother's and Father's Day gifts too!

!!! B CR8IV!!!  

Mad Hatter Tea Cups

Inspired by Alice in Wonderland's the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, these cups are also a lesson in texture.  Students needed to create 3 different textures one for each of their cups, they could push texture in, add texture on or a combination of both.  I give lots of examples of texture before we start building.  


To make the cups, start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 10" x 5" long and about 3/8th's of an inch thick.  You can give students a template for cutting out the basic rectangle or let them decide on the size. For these smaller cups, I cut out an arced rectangle that is about 8" long on the high side and 6" long on the bottom side x 2" tall.  The short edges of the rectangle need to be scratched and then it is wrapped up into a cylinder, attaching the edges together.  To create the bottom, you'll need another slab of clay.  If you have enough clay left over from your rectangle, use that, if not re-roll out all of your scrap pieces of clay.  Then take the cylinder and put it on top of the slab of clay and using a pointy tool or a knife, trace around the perimeter of the cylinder to get the exact size needed for the cup.  Once it's cut out, go ahead and scratch-to-attach it on, I find it's easier to do this when the cup is upside down or if you put on hand on the inside of the cylinder and connect it with the other hand on the outside.  HINT: Make sure that you don't leave any holes when your attaching the parts of the cylinder together--your tea will leak out!!  This creates a basic cup shape which could be used for a variety of projects but since we're making tea cups, the next step is to add a handle.  

Using the extra clay that you have, roll out a coil of clay that is about as thick as a pencil.  Fold the top of the coil over so that from the side it looks like half of a heart shape.  Scratch-to-attach the top and bottom of the heart shape and the top and bottom of your cup.  Press the handle on using your fingers on the inside and outside of your cup making sure it's secure. (Don't pick it up by the handle until its fired!!)   

Your cup is complete and you're ready to decorate with textures.  You can use the extra pieces of clay to create strips or polka dots to add on (remember to scratch-to-attach!) or you can use tools to push in the texture. Be sure to cover the entire surface of your cups.  

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Backgammon Game Board

Making your own game board and pieces in clay can be really fun.  This student chose to make a backgammon board but you could make checkers, chess, monopoly etc.

To make these game boards, start by rolling out a flat slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and the size that you would like your game board to be.  Next scratch up the entire surface of the clay with a fork or scoring tool.  Now start cutting out the shapes for your board pieces from the extra scraps of clay.  Scratch the backs of your shapes with a tool and begin attaching them onto the surface.  If you have large empty area, you can cut small shapes and attach them to fill those areas as a design rather than a playing area of the board.  Be sure to keep the thickness of your clay even as you attach them onto the base piece. Once all the spaces have been filled with shapes, let the game dry on a flat surface.  Now you have to build the pieces for your game, depending on what game you've chosen, they may need to be unique for each player or all similar as in checkers and backgammon.  Next, bisque fire all the pieces and board, then have students glaze only the surface of each of the shapes and the outside edge of the board NOT the spaces in-between, the grout will not stick to a glazed surface.  They should also glaze the pieces keeping color in mind if they need two teams of color or all the same.  Once the glaze firing is finished, mix up some grout in any color you'd like according to the package's instructions.  Be careful about not adding too much water to your grout, a little goes a long way!  Spread out some newspaper and give out plastic gloves to students--this will be messy!  I give students a handful of the grout and let them start pushing it into all of the spaces, I usually have to help everyone out a little bit to make sure they've packed it in tight and filled all the spaces.  Then have them rub the grout off of the tops of all of their shapes using just their hands to start with or a wooden clay tool can be helpful, then use a dry paper towel to start to wipe the surfaces clean.  Once the grout has dried a bit, you can go over the surface with a damp sponge to get any residual grout off. Let the grout dry for 24 hours before using your game.

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Monet's Water Lilies

To introduce this water lily project, I start by showing my students Claude Monet's paintings and talking with them about the Impressionists.  We also look at photos of real water lilies so that they can see the density of the petals and the beauty of their form.  Then rather that recreating the paintings, we build three dimensional water lilies in clay.  This also gives students the ability to play with the textures that Monet achieved through his paintings.

Start by rolling out at slab of clay and cut out your lily pad shape, remind students that the size and shape are up to them and that they should not be perfect.  Using tools, create the veins in the lily pad or add texture to the leaf.  To start the flower, I have students cut out a many pointed star shape.  Scratch to attach the center of the star to the lily pad, then squeeze the points of the star thinner with their fingers, it should start to resemble a flower at this point.  Scratch the center of the star and start to add on more petals.  I like to roll small coils of clay and then flatten them into petals, some of my students prefer to roll out a thin slab and then cut them out.  Keep layering the petals until the lily is filled, making sure to scratch-to-attach each one on.  Students can also add on frogs, beetles, turtles, dragonflies...whatever swampy creature they'd like.  Let them dry, bisque fire, glaze and then glaze fire them, then they will be ready to display in your garden.

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Mother's Day Picture Frames

I've been making these Mother's Day gifts with my students in the studio this week.  Its very sweet to see each students' work differ based on what they think their moms will like on their frame.

I have students roll out a slab of clay about 12" square-ish and about 3/8th's of an inch thick.  Then they cut the outside shape of their frame, which can be any shape they desire.  Next have them cut the whole for the picture which also can be any shape.  Now they are ready to decorate their frame.  I encourage students to push in textures and designs with tools as well as add on pieces.  In this example the mermaids hair, sea weed and the seashells are added on which give dimension & texture to the frame.  Some students added on flowers, their mom's name or animals their mom likes.  Make sure that all the parts you add on are scratched to attached on well.  Rubber stamps are also a great way to push in texture or spell out words with ABC stamps.  When you are finished designing the frame, use a tool to push two holes through the top of the frame so that it can be hung on the wall.  Once the pieces have been bisque fired, glazed and fired again, add a ribbon or twine to hang the frame by and tape a picture of the student in the back.  You can also have students wrap them up and make a card to go with their gift, so they're all ready to give out on Mother's Day!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Gargoyle Masks

Creating these masks are fun for students and a great lesson of the historical use of gargoyles in architecture.  I show students lots of examples of gargoyle sculptures and start the project by having them choose an emotion for their gargoyle.  This usually helps to dictate the shape, structure and features that their mask will have.

Start with a large slab of clay and cut out the general shape of the face, this could be round, oval, square; whatever the students chooses.  Then use some crumbled up newspaper to create a "pillow" and lay your slab of clay on top of the pillow, rounding the clay around the edges of the pillow.  This will help give the mask a more 3-D quality to it.  Next I have students push in features like the eye sockets, mouth and the hollows of the cheeks using their fingers and tools to get some general features started.  Then I have them add on the eyes, nose, horns, ears, warts, teeth, fangs--whatever they can think of and scratch-to-attach them onto the face. They can blend the features as needed, add texture and shape the mask to get the desired emotion to show through.  When students are finished building, I put a high temperature wire loop into the back of the mask so that when they are finished, they can be easily hung on the wall. Let the clay dry on the newspaper and  when dry pull out the newspaper carefully, bisque fire, then glaze ( I liked using a stony grey color on mine, but that's up to you!) and fire again.  You can display all of your students masks on the wall and have some Gothic looking architecture in your classroom!

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Many Hands Bowl

Hand bowls are a fun and easy way for students to work with slabs. You'll need a small bowl for each student and have them line it with a piece of newspaper to keep the clay from sticking.  Then start by rolling out a large slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and have students trace their hand 3-4 times.  HINT: You can add texture to your clay at this point if you want or keep the clay smooth.  Cut out the hands and smooth out the edges.  Lay the first hand into the bowl letting the fingers rest on the edges, then scratch the bottom of the hand.  Lay the next hand in the bowl scratching and attaching where it overlaps with the first hand and adjusting the fingers position as desired.   Continue with the rest of the hands until the bowl is formed.  You can add the students name and age in the bottom on the hand bowl if desired with rubber ABC stamps. Let the hands dry in the bowl and when dry, CAREFULLY remove from the bowl to bisque fire.  Then glaze making sure to cover all the edges of the hands then glaze fire.

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Landscapes in Clay

Creating 3-D landscapes in clay is a perfect opportunity to teach students about perspective and scale in art.  I make sure that my students understand what the background, middle-ground, foreground and horizon line using photographs or paintings as examples to identify each of these.  I have students cut out a large circle or square of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and about 8-10" across.  Fold the shape so that one side is perpendicular to the table.  The clay might be a little wobbly, so you can support it with a box or tool jar behind the clay until it dries enough to support itself.  Then using the extra clay, students create the background elements of their landscape. In this example, I created a moon, stars and mountains.  Then add pieces onto the middle-ground and then the foreground.  Remind students that if they have something in their landscape that moves between each of the planes, that they have to change its size accordingly.  So in this case, I have a river that starts at the mountains and runs all the way off the edge of my clay, so the river starts off thin and small and then gradually gets wider.  I challenge them to include at least 3 items in each plane of their landscape.  Also remember to scratch-to-attach all of your parts on well.  Students can theme your landscapes around a holiday, current curriculum or other worldly landscapes! Dry your pieces, bisque fire, glaze and fire again.

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Tiki Heads

These fun tiki heads are a perfect lesson in symmetry for students. I show my students lots of examples of symmetry in art and nature before we start this project.  I also have them sketch out a plan on paper of what shapes they will use to create their clay tiki head.

Start by rolling out a 3/8ths of an inch slab of clay and cut out a rectangle that is about 5" x 10".  Wrap the rectangle up into a cylinder and scratch-to-attach the edges together.  Trace the bottom of the cylinder onto another slab of clay and scratch-to-attach the circle onto the bottom of the cylinder. Now its time to start building the tiki face.

Take your scrap flat pieces of clay and roll them out a little thinner with a rolling pin.  Use a knife to cut out each of the shapes that you need to build the face and scratch-to-attach them onto the cylinder.  I challenged my students to choose at least 6 completely different shapes and to use at least 15 pieces to build their tiki faces.  I also challenged them to create two unique faces, one on each side of the cylinder.  You can adjust the challenge for your students ability and age level.  Dry your pieces, bisque fire them and then glaze.  You can also challenge students to use at least 10 different colors on their pieces if you'd like to get some super rainbow tiki heads! Once they are fired you can also put plants in your tiki heads to make them grow hair!

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Pouring Vessel

I love to teach my students about the functionality of the things that they make and how a seemingly simple object can also have complex design needs. For this project, we discuss the anatomy of pouring vessel; the body, handle, throat, rim, foot & spout and how each of these parts needs to be assembled well for the vessel to actually pour.  To ensure success for my students, I provide them with two paper templates to make their vessels, one for the body and one for the spout.

Start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and large enough to accommodate a rectangular paper template that is about 4" x 10" ( you can always make yours smaller or larger as desired!).  Cut out the rectangle and form it into a cylinder, scratch-to-attach the edges together and smooth the seam.  Then place the cylinder on top of a slab of clay and trace around it to create the right size circle for the bottom then scratch-to-attach it on well.  Now using a paper template for the spout, which is basically a triangle with  the bottom side rounded outward, cut out the spout, curve it and scratch-to-attach it onto the side of the cylinder. Then cut away the part of the cylinder where the spout is attached and smooth out the throat of the spout so that it is continuous and the liquid won't hit any bumps on its way out.  Make sure to keep the lip of the spout  straight edged on the end or your liquids will drip down the sides when you pour.  Next cut out a long and thin rectangle that you'll use for the handle, it will need to be about an inch and a half wide by about 8 inches long (if its too long, you can always trim it).  Bend the rectangle into a half heart shape and scratch-to-attach it on opposite the spout.  Now you can decorate your slab built pouring vessel however you like, let it dry and bisque fire it.  Be sure to glaze the entire surface to keep it sealed for liquids, fire it and then see if its functional!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Wizards

Wizards with a crystal ball (aka: marble!) are super fun for students to create and are a lesson in using cones as a 3-D shape. To start, roll out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and then use a paper template to cut out the shape of a large cone.  Wrap the clay up into a cone and scratch-to-attach the edges together.  Next roll out a coil of clay that you can scratch-to-attach near the top of the cone, this will become the brim of the hat.  Once the coil is well attached, pinch the edges with your fingers to thin it out and shape it.  Then roll out two coils of clay that are also cone shaped to create the arms, scratch-to-attach them on so that the hands are facing out in front.  Cutting out two ovals and attaching them to the bottom of the cone make feet poking out from under the wizard's robe.  I created two spheres for eyes and a small cone for the nose that were all scratched-to-attached on.  For the hair, beard and mustache, I used a garlic press to create "spaghetti hair", it's fun to make, but a little tricky to attach, make sure students take their time with this part.  Encourage students to turn their sculptures around and look at them from all sides, adding details or decoration as desired.  Bisque fire your wizards, glaze them and fire them again.  Once finished, you can glue the crystal ball into their hands.

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Heart Boxes

A fun Valentine's gift and easy to make!  Start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and cut out two identical hearts, one will be the lid and one will be the bottom.  HINT: I let my younger students use cookie cutters.  Next cut a strip of clay that will become the wall of the box, I used a ruler and cut down both sides to create a strip of clay that is even and about 1.5 inches thick.  Then scratch to attach the edge of one of the hearts and one edge of the strip of clay and attach them together.  Use a tool or your finger along the inside of the box to smooth out the connection.   Now decorate your heart box using tools, stamps and textures.  If you add any parts on, be sure to scratch to attach them on well.  These are great to fill with candy and give to the one you love on Valentine's Day!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Mosaic Mandalas

My students loved making these mosaic mandalas, especially the messy grouting part!  I showed my students lots of examples of mandalas and we discussed using symmetry in art before starting in clay.  The rules of the project are simple; any shape is allowed but the overall design must be symmetrical and the shapes can only have a little bubble room around them (not huge gaps), other than that--b cr8iv!

Start by giving each student a plastic plate (paper ones will get too wet and loose their shape).  Next roll out a large slab of clay that is about 3/8th of an inch thick and lay it over the plate and press it into the plates shape gently. Use a knife to cut off any extra clay around the edges and save the scraps of flat clay.

Next scratch up the entire surface of the clay with a fork or scoring tool.  Now start cutting out your shapes from the extra scraps of clay.  Scratch the backs of your shapes with a tool and begin attaching them onto the surface in a symmetrical design.  I encouraged students to work from the middle out to the edges.  HINT: If you have younger students you can use cookie cutters for this part to ensure symmetry!  Be sure to keep the thickness of your clay even as you attach them onto the base piece. Once all the spaces have been filled with shapes, let the mandala dry on the plate, they will pop apart from the plastic plates as they dry and shrink.  HINT: If you want to be able to hang these on the wall when they're finished, cut a small length of high temperature wire and bend it into a loop, then stick it halfway into the clay before it is dry to use as a hanger once the clay is fired.

Bisque fire the mandalas and then have students glaze only the surface of each of the shapes and the outside edge of the plate NOT the spaces in-between, the grout will not stick to a glazed surface.  You can make this a color wheel or color theory lesson with the glazing if you'd like too.  Be sure to keep the colors symmetrical too.

Once the glaze firing is finished, mix up some grout in any color you'd like according to the package's instructions.  Be careful about not adding too much water to your grout, a little goes a long way!  Spread out some newspaper and give out plastic gloves to students--this will be messy!  I give students a handful of the grout and let them start pushing it into all of the spaces, I usually have to help everyone out a little bit to make sure they've packed it in tight and filled all the spaces.  Then have them rub the grout off of the tops of all of their shapes using just their hands to start with or a wooden clay tool can be helpful, then use a dry paper towel to start to wipe the surfaces clean.  Once the grout has dried a bit, you can go over the surface with a damp sponge to get any residual grout off. Let the grout dry for 24 hours before hanging it up on the wall.

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Bunny Slippers

What is better than cozy pink bunny slippers? Well, maybe not cozy since they're built with clay, but still very cute!  Students started these by rolling out a slab of clay that was 3/8ths of an inch thick and traced their shoe onto the clay.  Next they used a half oval shaped slab of clay to create the rounded arch of the toe.  Each foot is a different size, so they'll have to estimate the size and then cut it to adjust for each foot.  Scratch-to-attach around the edges and use a little newspaper stuffed inside the arch to help support it while they add on other elements.  Two long triangles for ears and a small triangle for the nose are cut out of a slab of clay and attached on.  They can add a tail if they'd like and the eyes, mouth and whiskers can be drawn on with tools or added on with pieces of clay.  This student used high temperature wire pushed into the clay for whiskers.  They can also use tools to create a fuzzy texture on the surface of the clay.  Students signed their names on the slipper where the designers name would normally be.  Other animals would also make very cute slippers too!

!!!B CR8IV!!!  

Ice Cream Cones

Claes Oldenburg "Floor Burger"

The Pop Art style food sculptures of Claes Oldenburg inspired these fun ice cream cone wall sculptures. This is also a great project to discuss 3-D shapes with students.  Have students roll out a slab of clay that is about 3/8th of an inch thick.  I give students a paper template that will make a cone shape when wrapped up, this will also determine how large you want your ice cream cones to be (this one is about 15" tall).  Have students trace the template and cut it out, then wrap up the clay into a cone shape.  Scratch-to-attach the edges together well and let the cone rest wide part down while they add any cone texture they'd like with tools.

Next, using another piece of clay, students will make a sphere about the size of an orange, then make that sphere into a pinch pot by pushing their thumbs into the middle and squeezing around the sides.  This will make the ice cream scoop on top.  Its OK if the pinch pot has lumps or dents on it, it will make it look like a realistic scoop of ice cream.  Advanced students can make a double or triple scoop of ice cream, but be sure to put a hole between each of the scoops so that you are not trapping air (this will make the sculpture explode in the kiln!)

Scratch-to-attach the edges of the cone and the edges of the pinch pot so that they can attach them together.  HINT:  This part can be a little tricky especially if you are working fairly large.  Use some crumbled up newspaper stuffed inside the cone and pinch pot to help keep the shape while you blend the two together-it will burn out when you fire it in the kiln.  Have students take their time blending both parts together and make sure they are well attached.  The sculpture can be laying flat on the table now.  Have students choose the type of ice cream flavor they want and any extras like a cherry on top or sprinkles and scratch-to-attach them onto the ice cream.  When they are finished building, roll the sculptures over gently so that you can put a hole into the back of them, this will give you something to hang it by when you are finished and it will also prevent it from exploding in the kiln. Fire the pieces and then glaze them will the appropriate colors for the flavor of ice cream!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Cave Art

These primitive cave art slabs are a great way to teach students about the earliest forms of art.  Start by showing students images of early cave paintings and have them find common themes, such as bison, humans and horses.  It is a good idea to have students practice their cave paintings on paper before starting on their clay version.

You'll need to prep some materials before you begin.  This cave painting sculpture was made with a slab of clay for the base and was decorated using colored oxides made from raw pigments which is very similar to how cave paintings were originally made.  The colored oxides will need to be made in advance but are simple to do.  You'll have to make a trip to your local ceramic supply store to pick up small amounts of oxides and a flux to make them stick to the clay in the kiln, here I used red iron oxide, burnt umber, manganese dioxide and Gerstley Borate (GB) as my flux.  You can get oxides in almost any color that are commercially made they are called Mason Stains, but for this project, I chose to keep the color scheme more natural.  In individual containers mix 2 parts oxide to 1 part GB and mix well with water until you have a little thicker than watercolor paint consistency to your oxides. If you keep your oxides in containers with sealed lids, the pigment will settle to the bottom, but once stirred they can be used over and over on other clay projects and if they dry out, you can always add water to reconstitute them. Now you are ready to go!

Students will need to roll out their clay flat, I like to keep this in an abstract shape so that it represents a rock form.  I also have students make 2 holes at the top of their clay to be able to hang it up later.  Next students can use brushes to paint on their cave painting with the oxides that you made.  If they make a mistake with their painting, just use a clay scraping tool to wipe off the area and try again.  Encourage students to look at their practice drawings for shapes and ideas.  The final results should be primitive and rough looking.  I just bisque fire these pieces and don't use any glazes on them, but if you'd like to add some shine and clear glaze over the top of everything would work too.

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Word Magnets

Clay word magnets can be inspirational and educational!
 Have students roll out a slab of clay that is about 3/8" thick.  Then use rubber alphabet and number stamps to create words on the slab of clay.  Use a clay knife to cut around the edge of the word or cut into a shape similar to the word (ie: C-L-O-U-D cut into a cloud shape).  Dry slowly and with a board weighted down on top of the pieces-they tend to curl on the edges and warp if they dry to fast. When they are dry, bisque fire the pieces. When glazing the letters, use a brush to fill the letters with color, then use a damp sponge to wipe away any excess glaze around the edges of the letter.  This will increase the contrast between the letters and the background so they are easy to read.  Glaze fire the pieces and when they are finished glue high strength magnets onto the back of the clay, some may need more that one magnet depending on the size.

!!! B CR8IV!!!