Clay Daffodils

They are finally done!  Here are our of finished daffodils!!!

Bird's eye view:

With a candle for our Mother's Day gift:

Happy Mother's Day!!!

And now we wait...

I am so disappointed!  

We made these wonderful clay daffodils with another class for spring.  They were supposed to go into our school display case for April and then we were going to wrap them with a tea light candle inside for a Mother's Day gift.  

 

However, something is terribly wrong with our school's kiln.  During the first firing the kiln made so much noise that the Grade 7 class, where the kiln is located, had to relocate to another room!!!

So now we have to wait for our next in-school professional day to do the second firing, so as not to disturb the class again.  Luckily it is at the end of this month.  So, although they won't get the chance to be displayed, they'll at least be ready to go for Mother's Day.

Here is a bird's eye view:

 

Can you figure out what we used to help shape them?  We used a snowflake cookie cutter for the bottom and a small pinch pot for the top.

They are glazed and ready to go. Stay tuned for the finished product!

Mother's Day Clay Plates

MOM & ME by Grade 3 Student



I LUV MY MOM by Grade 4 Student



I made these clay plates with my son's grade 3/4 class.  First we rolled out our clay into a flat slab.  Then using a styrofoam plate turned upsidedown as a template, we traced a circle using wooden kabab skewers.  After cutting out the circle shape they carfully molded their circle into their own styrofoam plate.  I gave them a quick lesson on how to score and slip other pieces onto their plate. 

I had a handful of small cookie cutters (heart, star, butterfly, tulip, bell, flower) but I encouraged them to be creative with the those basic shapes.  Hence, the bell also became a female head, half of a heart became a bird, the tulip and bell combined to make a cat, etc.  Some created their own shapes by hand.

They were also provided with a set of mini alphabet stamps as well as other worded stamps to create impressions into the clay.  

A week later we painted the entire plate white for the first coat.  Then we used acrylic paints of various colours.  When dry, we added a coat of liquid varnish to seal the paint.  The photos are in the pre-varnished state.


   

 

    

Clay Lily Pads

This was one of my favorite clay projects and the kids were so thrilled with the results.  To go along with our Monet mini-unit my students made clay lily pads.  They are made in 2 separate pieces.

First we created the lily pad.  It was a great way to introduce the kids to some clay terminology.  They first rolled out a 'slab' of clay.  We used thin wooden blocks on either side of the clay so that I could ensure that they wouldn't roll the clay out too thin or too thick.  Using cardboard lily pad templates they were then able to trace and trim out their leaf shaped piece.  Using wooden skewers they then traced in details, being carfeul not to cut too far into the slab.

 

The flowers were made in much the same way.  Once again the kids rolled out a slab, traced and cut out their flower shape.  Then they gently lifted the petals to create a flower form.  Using different tools around the classroom they added details to the center of the flower.

When the pieces were dry they were fired, glazed and refired.



As a final touch we added a tea light and wrapped them in cellophane and gave them to our mom's for Mother's Day!  I wish I had a few more photos to share but I never seem to have my camera at school when I need it!  These were all the photos I happened to have taken with my phone!