Ideas to Try
1. Give the children the opportunity to try out various techniques to create a pot.
Coiled pots – clay is rolled into coils that are used to build up the pot. The clay is smoothed over using ‘slip’ (watered-down clay) and moulded into the required final shape.
Thumb pots – a small block of clay is given to each child and they create a pot by pressing their thumbs into the centre of the clay and gradually moulding the block into shape.
Slab pots – clay is rolled out and cut into squares, rectangles or any chosen shape. These basic pieces are fixed together using slip and smoothing the edges to ensure tightly sealed corners.
2. This activity gives children the opportunity to experiment with texture. Each child should roll out clay into a tile shape. Using any appropriate ‘tool’, for example a knife, piece of dowelling, comb, fork, they should be encouraged to experiment in creating texture.
3. The preceding activity can be extended by providing the children with a variety of materials which they can press into clay to create different effects – eg feathers, shells, cabbage leaves, lace, wire mesh, hessian. The finished result should be moulded into the required shape, glazed and fired. If the school has no kiln it is important to emphasise to children that the dried clay will be very fragile. An alternative would be to use modern, commercial clays which do not need firing or to provide each child with a commercially produced glazed tile or plate with ceramic paints to use in experimenting with design. Biscuit-fired tiles can also be bought and decorated with ceramic colourants.
4. Provide each child with a plant pot. Use brown wrapping paper to cover the outside of the pot, extending it higher than the top. Cut out a brown paper base with flaps, which should be glued to the side. Now build up the shape of the ‘pot’ using papier-mâché. Since it can be difficult to see whether the layers are even, it may be helpful for children to build one layer of papier-mâché followed by one layer of tissue paper and continue in this way until the required thickness is achieved. The completed pot can then be painted and decorated. To create an interesting shape, trim the top of the pot with irregular shaping or varied height. A further variation would be to glue two completed ‘pots’ together to create an unusual sculpture.
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