Fun with Ceramics, and Andy Warhol!

For the past few weeks, the children have been working on a ceramics project that will eventually become wearable art: a necklace! During the first week, the children learned how to roll a ball of clay, flatten it with their hands, then use a rolling pin to smooth it into a nice pancake shape. They were able to choose from several templates and cut out the shape of their pendent. The next step was to use a variety of recycled objects to give their pendants texture. Then the clay was headed to the kiln for the first firing.

In week two, the children learned about glazes and they carefully painted their ceramics with color. I worked with the children in small groups because of the need for guidance during this stage, and while I was working with one group, students rotated through three other stations of art activities. One of the stations featured a rubber stamping and colored pencil activity. Another station was stocked with a variety of word search puzzles, mazes, and connect-the-dot handouts (all great for fine motor development and hand-eye coordination). The last station featured a game called "Make a Monster." Students took turns rolling a die and then drawing a monster - adding a new detail with each turn in a random and kooky way. I think the kids really enjoyed the variety of activities offered that day as I heard several say, "this is fun!" and the room buzzed with focused activity.

This past week, the ceramics were still cooling off in the kiln and not ready to turn into the necklaces, so we began our next project inspired by the work of pop artist, Andy Warhol. We read a short book about his art and looked at several examples of his prints. We discussed printmaking and then the children set to work making their own version of pop art using bright neon tempera paint and the repeated motif of their hand print. Next week, we will finish the ceramics project, and those will be sent home that afternoon, along with the leaf dish ceramics that the children created (with the substitute art teacher) early last fall.