If there is one clay project that I have really enjoyed over the years, this would be the one! I was inspired by a post at
Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists. I loved the idea of making a plant that would literally never die :) and knew we had to try it out!
Day #1-Students spent time creating a pinch pot and forming it into a desired shape. We looked at a handout that I had created with lots of pictures of succulents and discussed why they are different than other types of plants.
Day #2-Students began creating the plants for the clay pots. For this step, students were encouraged to try molding, pressing/cutting and rolling their pieces to form the plants. I demonstrated and gave as much assistance/encouragement as I possibly could, but next year (I plan to repeat this lesson because it's great!), I will have them spend some time drawing out ideas for the plants or practice with Play-Doh to get the hang of it before actually creating with the clay. We spent two weeks building the plants.
Day #3-Acrylic paints in fluorescent colors! A coat of acrylic gloss medium for a sheen if desired (Modge Podge would also work).
I love how the pieces look together as a group!!
Hey! They came out great! That really was a fun project. Experimenting with play-doh first is a super idea. I am trying something different this year for my 4th grade clay lesson, and if I like it I will rotate these two each year.
ReplyDeleteI'm anxious to see what cool clay project you've got going on with 4th grade! BTW, can you explain to me how I can leave a reply instead of leaving a comment after blog posts?!
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic!! Did you keep the pots wet and attach the plants, or were they just placed in the pots?
ReplyDeleteThank you!! The pots were kept in bags as we worked to keep the clay wet. It was tricky, but the plants were scored and attached using clay slip. Have fun!!
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