Fred Parker on thu 31 jan 08
My wife's grandsons (ages 3,5,6) visit several times a year. Once or
twice I've given them some clay and we've made odd little artifacts that I
later bisqued and glazed for them. The older one really took to it,
although that might have been an accident of timing. They tend to have
short attention spans...
Now I'm wondering 1) if the little demons are old enough to do this and
more importantly, 2) what some good clay activities might be for them.
If any of you early childhood art teachers out there have advice I would
very much appreciate your thoughts. These kids pretty much live in a
world dominated by football, deer hunting with guns and deer hunting with
bows and arrows. I'd like to make them aware the Arts exist and also
perhaps give them a taste of its pleasures before their context forever
corrupts their receptiveness...
Many thanks,
Fred Parker
Weiland, Jeff on thu 31 jan 08
Several ideas I can think off the top of my head. You could go the
vessel/container route with coil of slab techniques and then have them
model some of the things they are interested in such as a football
helmet, profile of a deer, maybe a deer head protruding on one side and
a tail on the opposite, maybe some sort of gun stock for a handle, name
and number of favorite football player carved in relief, etc. Another
route that kids seem to like is surrealism. Try modeling a deer and put
a rifle in his grip or a deer hunter with the face/head of a deer. Try a
football shape with arms, legs, helmet, pads, etc. How about a sculpture
of a New York Giants player beating up on a New England Patriots
player!!!!=20
Jeff Weiland
Greenfield-Central High School
810 North Broadway
Greenfield, Indiana 46140
317-462-9211
jweiland@gcsc.k12.in.us
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Fred Parker
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 11:33 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: How to teach kids about clay?
My wife's grandsons (ages 3,5,6) visit several times a year. Once or
twice I've given them some clay and we've made odd little artifacts that
I
later bisqued and glazed for them. The older one really took to it,
although that might have been an accident of timing. They tend to have
short attention spans...
Now I'm wondering 1) if the little demons are old enough to do this and
more importantly, 2) what some good clay activities might be for them.
If any of you early childhood art teachers out there have advice I would
very much appreciate your thoughts. These kids pretty much live in a
world dominated by football, deer hunting with guns and deer hunting
with
bows and arrows. I'd like to make them aware the Arts exist and also
perhaps give them a taste of its pleasures before their context forever
corrupts their receptiveness...
Many thanks,
Fred Parker
________________________________________________________________________
______
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The Goodsons on thu 31 jan 08
Dear Fred,
What a good thing!! My experience with young children is that they love
anything to do with
rolling pins, cookie cutter, and the clay gun (sort of like the play
dough fun factory)
We used to set up a table covered with some sturdy fabric and let them
go at it! Their imaginations
are incredible. Give them a little bowl with some slip in it, something
to scratch the clay, and some
paint brushes. Show them how to score the clay and attach pieces
together. They might also like some
template shapes to trace around and make shapes to hang like ornaments.
We used to do this with
friends and their children and the adults had just as much fun as the kids!
Sincerely,
Linda Goodson
Fred Parker wrote:
> My wife's grandsons (ages 3,5,6) visit several times a year. Once or
> twice I've given them some clay and we've made odd little artifacts that I
> later bisqued and glazed for them. The older one really took to it,
> although that might have been an accident of timing. They tend to have
> short attention spans...
>
> Now I'm wondering 1) if the little demons are old enough to do this and
> more importantly, 2) what some good clay activities might be for them.
>
> If any of you early childhood art teachers out there have advice I would
> very much appreciate your thoughts. These kids pretty much live in a
> world dominated by football, deer hunting with guns and deer hunting with
> bows and arrows. I'd like to make them aware the Arts exist and also
> perhaps give them a taste of its pleasures before their context forever
> corrupts their receptiveness...
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Fred Parker
>
>
>
>
Barb Jensen on thu 31 jan 08
A project that I have have done with small children is to make tic tac
toe games. I give them a bisque tile with pencil lines pre-drawn to
make the grid. They can choose form underglaze colors to paint the
lines (and fill in the squares if they want) then you glaze it with a
clear glaze and fire. This forms the game board. They make the playing
pieces using any theme they can dream up; mice and cheese, squares and
triangles, any two shapes to represent the traditional X's and O's used
in the game. Or use two colors of clay to represent each player's piece
and any shape they can manage to come up with. The challenge is to
create pieces that will fit in the squares and not roll off the board.
To carry the project further, you can teach them to sew little bags to
hold the game pieces.
Another project is to create an environment. For this, you need to get
them started with a lump of clay each and a canvas lined table and a
theme. The theme can be an amusement park, food, village or town, outer
space fantasy, whatever interests them. They proceed to create an
environment with modeled figures and objects and roads/paths, fences,
etc. that can become very rich and complex as it evolves. This is an
exercise in cooperative work ( you don't get to smash Jimmy's little
guys) and open-ended process. The finished work isn't fired or saved,
but you can take a picture of it for them to keep. They can become
really absorbed in this and leave and come back to it all weekend.
Have fun!
Barb Jensen
www.jensenandmarineau.com
Fred Parker wrote:
My wife's grandsons (ages 3,5,6) visit several times a year.
Now I'm wondering 1) if the little demons are old enough to do this and
more importantly, 2) what some good clay activities might be for them.
Susan Fox Hirschmann on fri 1 feb 08
Kids this age LOVE to make turtles.---but I tell them it is a surprise...as
far as what they are making!
I take a plastic bowl and line it with saran wrap taped on to the back. Then
I have them make bunches of small balls of clay and line the saran wrapped
bowl with a layer of little balls. After they line the bowl, I tell them to
mush up the little balls til they all stick together and you cannot see the balls
anymore.
Then I have them turn the plastic bowl upside down and remove the plastic
bowl and the saran wrap: what they see is the configurations of bunches of balls
and they realize that it looks like a TURTLE! I teach them the scoring and
slurry to add head and arms and atail and they all love it!
I do this with my 4 and 6 year old grandkids but older kids like this one too.
Best of luck
Susan
Annandale, VA.
**************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025
48)
John Post on fri 1 feb 08
Hi Fred,
If you go to the page below you will find many of the clay lessons I do
with my elementary students.
The black and white images near the bottom of the page will take you to
even more lessons from past years pages.
I work with clay with kids who are 5-12 years old.
http://www.wemakeart.org
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
http://www.johnpost.us
Kelly Johnston on tue 5 feb 08
Hi Fred!
I've been teaching kids classes for the last year, and while mine are
all 6+, some of the same principles apply. Like someone else
mentioned, teaching them to join parts properly is key. Otherwise
they just jam bits together, expecting they are going to stay stuck.
We use toothbrushes to apply slip, and make alot of jokes about clay
toothpaste (yuck!). With the little ones, clay masks can be fun. We
make lumps of clay shaped like noses, lips, chin, cheeks and
foreheads, then lay a slab over the assembled face, press gently so
that the face bits help the slab take on the general face shape. They
then use a skewer or old pencil to draw the features on the slab,
adding ears, hair, hats etc. Then colour with underglaze colours and
bisque and clear glaze.
Otherwise, I've been trawling thru the archives and collecting
project ideas to use in my upcoming classes, saving them in a word
document for future reference. If you'd like a copy, just send me an
email and I'll forward one on to you.
Kelly in Emerald, Qld Australia
slowly drying out after the big flood, hoping for no more significant
rain in the catchment area, as the dam is still 160% full!
Fred Parker on tue 5 feb 08
Thank you all for the wealth of absolutely spectacular suggestions re
teaching young kids about clay. Relying on my own good judgement I
managed to post my question just at the start of the spamminfest and just
before ClayArt went on the martial law hours. Consequently, I probably
missed a few of your messages, but many of you wrote me off-list directly
and I now have several pages of survival notes for when the little
hellions return. Can't wait to try out the neat ideas!
If I inadvertently failed to say "thank you" to each of you who responded,
I apologize. Please know I am very grateful for your generosity and
advice.
Hmmm... Would it be in poor taste, when they are buckling in in the back
seat for the ride home, to slip the three of them baggies of their own
high-iron oxide clay like, say, terra cotta or Lizella Red -- or when they
have been even more chaotic than normal, some black Cassius Basaltic?
Fred Parker
David Woof on wed 6 feb 08
My apologies to anyone who tryed to read that big single run on paragraph I=
posted on this subject.=20
=20
I did not type it that way. If anyone knows what my computer is doing in t=
his regard and how to correct it please let me know. Thanks.David _______=
__________________________ _________________________________ David Woof Stu=
dio Clarkdale, Arizona Ph. 928-649-5927________________________________ ___=
_____________________________ peering over the edge, reverently taking an i=
rreverent look at everything.
_________________________________________________________________
Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail=AE-get yo=
ur "fix".
http://www.msnmobilefix.com/Default.aspx=
Victoria E. Hamilton on wed 6 feb 08
David -
Great info - difficult to read until I put some paragraph breaks in there.
Vicki Hamilton
Millennia Antica Pottery
Seattle, WA
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of David Woof
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:30 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: FW: How to teach kids about clay?
Fred, kids already "know" about clay. and they are great mimics of someone
who they sense has a loving concern for them; seeing and appreciating them
as real thinking feeling individuals. Too often folks, teachers, grand
parents included, do see them only as little demons, charges,
responsibilities.....or little objects for control and imposing our will.
"for their own good" of course!! And rightly so, to be truely concerned
with effecting their lives and behavior in positive ways. Find something to
admire and love about each of them, relax and take the lead; they will
willingly follow. I was so fortunate to have an Irish cowboy grandfather who
took me horseback riding as a wee child and into my early teens. He was
educated and literate with wide interest and spoke of many subjects and
ideas as we rode, and many an afternoon was spent digging clay from Allens
Creek and fashioning pots, dishes and figures left on a log to sun dry and
disappear in the next rain. It was his gift to turn me on to many things.
I responded because he offered things that intrigued my mind. He reached my
heart, I felt nurtured. Guns, deer and arrows. We lived by our guns; food
for the table, Dad putting a rifle in my 13 year old capable hands as he
and granddad went out to face the then radical and violent NFO members who
had gathered in our yard attempting to intimidate us into joining their org.
Or because we didn't keep our money in banks; me sitting in the pickup
across the street from the bank with rifle across my skinny kid knees while
dad cashed the check for the cattle we had just sold and he didn't want to
get robbed coming out of the bank. Today I don't hunt, eat deer, or carry
guns in town, but I still have clay in my hands almost every day. Guns will
find their balanced "proper" place in your grand children's lives if you
gently facilitate discovery of options equally fascinating without judgement
of activities other family members may be introducing them to. My five kids,
could throw pots before they started school, all are grown and successful in
other fields, none make pots now except when they come to visit, but I am
sure that those early experiences in discovering their own creativity with
clay and building little kilns of their own designs, some of which actually
fired quite well, sent them off into the world with confidence. Fred, can
you pit or otherwise primative fire your grand children's creations? Let
them help build the pit or stack up bricks, then let them light and feed the
fire. I know there are more than a few folks on clayart who make stuff with
clay because what really gets them going is fire. If you put clay and fire
together it is so elemental that even "dorks and little demons" will leave
their cyber world to play with grandpa. (and don't get hung up on
structured projects). This is where true personal creativity falters and
dies. A project should be a point of departure and technique will make sense
when creativity demands that it be sought and learned or discovered. Micro
managent of kids and tightly structured projects satisfy school
administration and lesson plan requirements because they are quantifiable on
paper and seem convienent to many teachers. Like multiple choice serves a
teacher's needs while essay questions would better serve the student. Opps,
don't get me started!!! I thank Mel for this: he told me back in 1981 that
his ideal was to "run art classes like a gym class without a whistle", I
took it as mine to use these years, still do and it works. Thanks for that
Mel. Best, David Eat the healthy best food you can find, drink the finest
wine you can afford, make love to your clay and someone special often, and
remember that the demon kid who seems most difficult to love needs it the
most._________________________________ _________________________________
David Woof Studio Clarkdale, Arizona Ph.
928-649-5927________________________________
________________________________ peering over the edge, reverently taking an
irreverent look at everything.
Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your HotmailR-get your
"fix". Check it out.
_________________________________________________________________
Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser!
http://biggestloser.msn.com/
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, change your
subscription settings or unsubscribe/leave the list here:
http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots2@visi.com
vpitelka on fri 22 feb 08
I don't think it is so much a question of how to teach kids about clay, but
more about what they can teach us. The freedom with which kids approach art
is usually lost as we grow older, and that is indeed a great loss. If you
give kids the simplest of possibilities with clay they will "get it," and
will create amazing things. It does not require much instruction, and
should never involve very specific, precise instruction, because that kills
the creative instinct that all kids are blessed with. Just let them play
with clay and it will happen.
I have mentioned this before on Clayart so forgive me for repeating, but my
own experience was a perfect example. My family moved from Kensington, CA
to Berkeley, CA shortly before my 5th birthday. When we still lived in
Kensington, my parents used to go visit Jack and Mary Merchio in Kensington.
Mary was a potter and had a studio in the basement. The adults wanted peace
and quiet, so Mary would take my brother and me down to the studio and give
us clay. My brother quickly lost interest and went out back to terrorize
the neighbor's dog, but I was hooked. I made a teapot and tea cups with
saucers, and a castle with crennelated walls, stairways, and towers - just
pinching clay and pressing it together instinctively. Mary fired the teapot
and cups, and we had them on a shelf in our breakfast room until they were
shattered in an earthquake. The castle never made it to the kiln.
Mary never taught me about forming or joinery or anything else. She never
established any rules. She just gave me clay and turned me loose. I
realize that not all kids would respond as I did, but they should at least
have the chance. I was only four and a half when I made those cups and
saucers and that castle.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
David Woof on fri 22 feb 08
Fred, kids already "know" about clay. and they are great mimics of someon=
e who they sense has a loving concern for them; seeing and appreciating the=
m as real thinking feeling individuals. Too often folks, teachers, grand =
parents included, do see them only as little demons, charges, responsibilit=
ies.....or little objects for control and imposing our will. "for their own=
good" of course!! And rightly so, to be truely concerned with effecting t=
heir lives and behavior in positive ways. Find something to admire and lov=
e about each of them, relax and take the lead; they will willingly follow. =
I was so fortunate to have an Irish cowboy grandfather who took me horsebac=
k riding as a wee child and into my early teens. He was educated and litera=
te with wide interest and spoke of many subjects and ideas as we rode, and =
many an afternoon was spent digging clay from Allens Creek and fashioning p=
ots, dishes and figures left on a log to sun dry and disappear in the next =
rain. It was his gift to turn me on to many things. I responded because h=
e offered things that intrigued my mind. He reached my heart, I felt nurtu=
red. Guns, deer and arrows: We lived by our guns; food for the table, D=
ad putting a rifle in my 13 year old capable hands as he and granddad went =
out to face the then radical and violent NFO members who had gathered in ou=
r yard attempting to intimidate us into joining their org. Or because we di=
dn't keep our money in banks; me sitting in the pickup across the street f=
rom the bank with rifle across my skinny kid knees while dad cashed the che=
ck for the cattle we had just sold and he didn't want to get robbed coming =
out of the bank. Today I don't hunt, eat deer, or carry guns in town, but I=
still have clay in my hands almost every day. Guns will find their balanc=
ed "proper" place in your grand children's lives if you gently facilitate d=
iscovery of options equally fascinating without judgement of activities oth=
er family members may be introducing them to. My kids, could throw pots b=
efore they started school, all are grown and successful in other fields, no=
ne make pots now except when they come to visit, but I am sure that those e=
arly experiences in discovering their own creativity with clay and building=
little kilns of their own designs, some of which actually fired quite well=
, sent them off into the world with confidence. Fred, can you pit or otherw=
ise primative fire your grand children's creations? Let them help build t=
he pit or stack up bricks, then let them light and feed the fire. I know t=
here are more than a few folks on clayart who make stuff with clay because =
what really gets them going is fire. If you put clay and fire together it i=
s so elemental that even "dorks and little demons" will leave their cyber w=
orld to play with grandpa. (and don't get hung up on structured projects).=
This is where true personal creativity falters and dies. A project should =
be a point of departure, and technique will make sense when creativity dema=
nds that it be sought, learned or discovered. Micro managent of kids and t=
ightly structured projects satisfy school administration and lesson plan re=
quirements because they are quantifiable on paper and seem convienent to ma=
ny teachers. Like multiple choice serves a teacher's needs while essay que=
stions would better serve the student. Opps, don't get me started!!! I th=
ank Mel for this: he told me back in 1981 that his ideal was to "run art c=
lasses like a gym class without a whistle", I took it as mine to use these=
years, still do and it works. Thanks for that Mel. Best, David Eat the he=
althy best food you can find, drink the finest wine you can afford, make lo=
ve to your clay and someone special often, and remember that the demon kid =
who seems most difficult to love needs it the most.
_________________________________________________________________
Climb to the top of the charts!=A0Play the word scramble challenge with sta=
r power.
http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=3Dstarshuffle_wlmailtextlink_ja=
n=
John Post on sat 23 feb 08
Hi Vince,
I think that in small group situations you can give kids clay, show
them how to attach things and let them have at it.
There was a prominent art educator in the 60's-70's named Victor
Lowenfeld who advocated this approach.
I don't think this works well in larger classroom situations though.
As an art teacher in an elementary school I find that in every class
there are a few kids who are hands-on kids and can just paint and
sculpt circles around the other kids. These kids are easy to teach, a
little introduction and off they go. But other students need more
scaffolding before they can begin to create. They need someone to
give them a project to do. I know it's hard for us creative types to
imagine, but some people actually have a hard time coming up with
ideas. If you try the Victor Lowenfeld approach with a classroom full
of thirty-five 5th grade students you won't end up with much worth
firing.
I prefer to approach creativity with kids in a couple of ways. One is
to model how to generate ideas. As an example, since 3rd grade
students study the regions of the U.S. in social studies, I have them
create several animals from regions around the U.S. I model how to
use geometric forms to create the first few animals we make. I always
give a talk about the animal, its habitat and life cycle, how it
interacts with its environment etc. Then after I do this the kids get
to choose a region and an animal, create it in clay and give a little
discussion to the class about how the animal they chose relates to its
geographic region. By the time this unit is over the kids have a
pretty good idea about how to make animals in clay and how to research
animals and regions on the internet. They also make a pretty big
connection with the social studies curriculum as the kids discuss
their animals and habitat choices.
Another approach I like to use with kids is to set a minimum amount of
criteria for an assignment and then let them decide how to meet these
requirements. In 6th grade, kids create Egyptian mummy time
capsules. I teach them how to make a slab top, bottom and sides. The
way they model the figure is up to them. I tell them it must have a
face with features, arms and hands and some type of textural
decoration. Inside the mummy they have to place a minimum of four
written artifacts. I give them a poem prompt they can use, but then
they need to generate the other 3 items. Kids have created drawings,
written letters to friends and exchanged them unread, they have
written letters to themselves in the future and gotten letters from
parents. These artifacts all get sealed in the mummy. Every year
there are kids who add clay baseball hats, hockey sticks, basketballs
etc to the sarcophagi. My favorites are the ones where the kids
sculpt their tongue sticking out.
I think that some kids can make creative things on their own, but that
many need a little jump-start and scaffolding to get them going. The
key is to give them just enough scaffolding for support and then let
them take off.
John Post
Sterling Heights, Michigan
http://www.johnpost.us :: cone 6 glaze website ::
http://www.wemakeart.org :: elementary art website ::
> Just let them play
> with clay and it will happen.
> She never established any rules. She just gave me clay and turned
> me loose. I
> realize that not all kids would respond as I did, but they should at
> least
> have the chance.
> - Vince
Tom Brook on sat 23 feb 08
I think the Kids should teach. The work I saw from The Children that had
their work in NCECA showed a tremendous talent there. I believe it was the
from grade school through High school. We can all be humbled by taking a
look at some of the photos.-Tom
tony clennell on sun 24 feb 08
Dear Mr. Post: I'm still a kid at heart and I want to be in your art
class. It sounds neato keeno!
Best,
Tony
> I think that some kids can make creative things on their own, but that
> many need a little jump-start and scaffolding to get them going. The
> key is to give them just enough scaffolding for support and then let
> them take off.
>
> John Post
> Sterling Heights, Michigan
> http://www.johnpost.us :: cone 6 glaze website ::
> http://www.wemakeart.org :: elementary art website ::
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, change your
> subscription settings or unsubscribe/leave the list here: http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots2@visi.com
>
--
http://sourcherrypottery.com
http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com
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