Teaching children

[Nelly]

Dear All,

 

I have a neighbor who recently asked if he could work with his kids doing some pottery a few days a week over the summer. He is a stay at home dad so it is great to have him present to help the children. Their ages are 8 and 10.

 

I started with really simple pinch pot and slab vases on the first day. Today, they came with specific drawings they wanted to execute. One wanted to do a gorilla type figure with wings. I was blown away.

 

Given that I have never taught kids I thought, what the heck, go with what they want. So I taught techniques with newspaper covered with clay for the body, holes for air release, popsicle sticks to hold things in place before they slip and score the joints etc.

 

I have to tell you, while their work is great, it is exhausting. I mixed some mason stain colors with slip. Given that they are still fairly concrete, they see a color and expect it to be that exactly when it turn out.

 

I must say, it is part study of the creative process in young children and my own interest in trying to impart knowledge. They are extremely keen.

 

One child picked up the turn table and put a lump of clay in the middle and started to spin it without any provocation. It was as if she understood the principle of centering and making a pot on the wheel. We haven't even gone into any wheel work yet.

 

We did some masks, pendants and on the first day, the one child came with an idea to make a vase with noses to prop up your glasses beside the bed at night. Really clever stuff.

 

My hat goes off to teachers who do this full time to not only children but adults. It takes great time and patience. And while I don't want to touch their work in anyway, I do want to make sure it survives the process of firing. This requires watching the joints as they dry, making sure they slip, score and coil, encouraging the finishing of the edges etc.

 

I have some pouring and dipping clear glazes for their final projects.

 

Oh to be a child again who could come to a table and say "I want to make a creature that is part this and part that." Why do we stop doing this as adults??

 

Nelly

[bciskepottery]

John Post is an elementary art teacher in Michigan who works in clay with his classes. His website is a valuable resource for working with children. http://www.johnpost.us/

[grayfree]

Hi Nelly

one thing I do with my gradchildren is roll out a slab and let them use cookie cutters and cut out all kinds of shapes to make christmas ornaments and magnets. I also let them texture the caly with those foam stamp things and then they lay it over a plate of some size and let it dry. They are 3 and 6 and using a plate for a mold comes out great. They feel like they have made something like I do. I let them throw flat plates on the wheel then we take those "discs" and adorn them with cut out shapes .....can put a hole in it and hang it on the wall. they make trinket holders and ring holders using little molds they cut aroung and lay the clay on top of a dish shaped liked a fish or whatever you have, just to get a basic shape....I am constantly looking for ideas they are a little to young to come up with much on their own yet. GOOD LUCK what a great neighbor to invest in your friends children. AWESOME PERSON ALERT!!!