This is a handbuilt Ceramic castle created by my 11 year old Ceramics student at camp. I came up with the idea for this lesson, thinking a sandcastle would be a fun summer project. It instead turned into this fantastic castle project. I discovered if I broke a clothespin in half, the rectangular point can be used to stamp a fun brick pattern on the clay. This is less expensive than buying a set of pattern sheets to roll the clay on.
For the castle, we cut out each section to be built from clay slabs; 2 matching pieces for the base & roof, one long slab about 3 inches high to fit as castle form, one equally long but only 1 inch high slab for a short wall around roof, slabs to roll into cylinders for towers. All the necessary pieces were stamped with clothespin to achieve brick pattern, them scored & slipped together. It is important to note that before attaching roof, newspaper must be stuffed inside castle form to act as an armature to support the roof. This way, the roof will not collapse when the towers, etc are built over it.
As far as additions to the castle, there are amazing possibilities. My students chose fancy drawbridges, flags, moats complete with lochness monsters, fire-breathing dragons, or innocent unicorns. Princesses were also popular, including Rapunzel, complete with super long hair.
I would love the opportunity to teach this lesson again & possibly see wizards, & even more magical creatures!
I was inspired to use my giant collection of Beanie Baby stuffed animals to help my students visualize animals in 3-D. They spent the 1st 5 minutes of class selecting the animal of their choice from my vast collection of Beanie Babies. I spoke with the class about how all of our animals start with a circular body & then a smaller circular head attached. I told the students we would each start building the body & the head together & then they would be free to add details that were specific to their own animal. This lesson worked extremely well, as they were easily able to see how their animal looks in 3D, turning the stuffed animal in various directions to help with their modeling. All of the students felt enormously successful in creating their own version of their chosen Beanie Baby animal. They loved that they were able to make their favorite animal & not have everyone make the same thing.
This giraffe sculpture was created by an 8 year old art student.
Ceramic box with lid project, created by 8-10 year olds. I taught this by making a demo of a heart box. I rolled out an even slab of clay & drew 1 heart. I told them whatever their design is, you can easily take it & then trace it again. This way you have 2 matching size shapes, 1 for the base & 1 for the lid. The lid is of course embellished with added features/designs. A strip of a clay slab (or 2 joined together) works to create the sides of the shape. I added a coil on the base of each lid after it firmed, so this will help the lid fit more securely. It is difficult to add the coil right away, as the lid doesn't stay flat. So, I explain the coil's purpose & let the students know that "the clay fairy" will do just that 1 extra thing to finish the piece.
Ceramic "Hanging Pocket" project. These 9-10 yr old clay students created a design, with the one rule being that it incorporated a pocket that can hold trinkets, flowers, a key, etc. I love the variation in their ideas. This was all slab-built, with newspaper crumpled into the pocket to keep the shape while drying.
Demo I made of Ceramic owl pencil holder for Ceramics class of 7-10 yr olds I teach. I used the technique of rolling a square slab (with ball of newspaper inside) into a ball, for the body & head. This way the form is hollow after the newspaper burns in the kiln firing. It is necessary to poke adequate holes in both head & body to allow air to escape while firing. I textured both the clay & the glaze application to suggest a feathered look.
My demo of a Ceramic slab built box, with vine/flower detailing. I used neon & black glaze for contrast, but decided to let my students try Crystallite glazes for their projects. These glazes have color crystals that explode when fired, to create bursts of color (I tell them like mini fireworks).
Ceramic demo I made of sneaker pencil/etc. holder. I constructed this using slabs, making the ankle first as a cylinder, then attaching the foot. I added detail from there, modeling it after the blue Converse sneakers I practically live in :).
Student (age 9) built Ceramic butterfly shaped napkin holder. We drew a butterfly on paper first, then cut it out and traced 2 butterflies out of a clay slab. I give the kids a paper correctly sized for how big a napkin holder side should be. It is already folded in half & they can draw one side of the wings (being sure to take up most of the paper) and caterpillar center. This paper can later be used to sketch design ideas if students aren't ready to commit their desgins to clay yet. I tell them not to worry if they want to design directly on the clay. As long as they don't press too hard, they can always erase. We also traced a cut out paper rectangle onto clay slab to measure how big the base needed to be.
I tell them they can repeat the design for both sides of the butterfly or make them each different. It is necessary to let the sides dry until about leather hard, before trying to join the sides to the base. It is best to add a small coil along the inside of each side & smooth everything together. This helps keep the sides standing up securely.
Student made ceramic mouse, complete with yummy cheese! :) Done by a 9 yr old student.
coil built body Horse pot- 8 yr old Ceramics student
Goldfish in a bowl with pebbles-by 7 yr old. She decided that fish don't have to be in the sea like the demo, it can also be a house fish.
Ceramic chalkboard demo I made. When glazing a special chalkboard glaze (cone 06) by Mayco was used. It is best to apply chalkboard glaze in 3 even coats with a fan brush, being careful not to get it on border areas. It is also important not to get regular glaze on the chalkboard area, as it will be ineffective. The chalkboard area is not overglazed before firing,as the borders may be. If holes are punched through edges with a straw while making chalkboard, a cute ribbon can be tied through at the end for hanging.
