Pottery

In this project, we made pinch pots out of clay.

The procedure included:

• lay down newspaper
• knead the tennis ball size clay to rid it of any air bubbles
• roll it into a ball
• press thumbs into the middle to start forming the inside of the pot
• turn the pot in a circle to form the edges and the bottom
• once pot is formed, dip fingers in water to smooth out any cracks or finger prints
• carve your initials into the bottom of the pot
• carve your symbols into the pot - choose symbols that represent you
• paint your pot using acrylic paints
• you can opt to paint your whole pot first and when it is dry, paint your symbols on instead of carving them

 

The heart represents the love of Jesus for me.  

 

 

The xo represents the kisses and hugs that I give my family.

 

 The apple represents that I am a future educator.

 

 

The sun represents the time I like to spent at the lake swimming and tubing.  

 

This picture shows the inside of my pinch pot. I chose pink because it is my favorite color and it contrasted well with the black outside.

 

I had a difficult time shaping my pinch pot. I had to start over three times. The sides kept getting too thin as I circled the clay around to form them. On this pot the sides did get a little thin, but I tried to curve them like a flower. I used black on the outside of my pot to contrast with the other colors I used on the symbols. By carving the symbols into the clay instead of painting them on, it gives the piece texture.

 

An extension activity with science would be to research how clay is made and find out what parts of the world it comes from. In social studies, students would study the meanings of symbols and how symbols have been used to represent many different concepts.