Pottery Kids

Last Thursday was the last day of our Kids Clay Class at Callanwolde (try to say that three times, fast). They had built some clay projects, fired them, glazed them and fired them again. So for the last class, they got to see the finished projects, which were really great. The class is two hours long and I wanted the kids to continue to have fun so I gave them a little tour of the pottery studios and showed them the kilns. We talked about how they worked. We even found someone in the raku area doing a sawdust firing. It would have been more exciting if she was doing a raku firing but that was not the case. Maybe next time it will work out that way. I brought them to the wheel room and showed them around there. Then I took out some clay that I had wedged up and did a little demo of how to make a pot. I also demonstrated how to squish a pot. Demo pots aren't always keepers. My best work doesn't always come out while I'm talking and kids ask a lot of questions which is wonderful but my pot was not.

Demonstrating Wheel Throwing

After showing them what to do I let each child take a turn on the wheel.

Teaching Centering

They all needed a little help centering. If you've ever tried to throw a pot or taught pottery, you know that centering can be difficult to learn to do at the beginning.

Helping Throw a Pot

I helped a little but mostly let the kids play as much as they wanted. They didn't really care if they made anything, they just enjoyed the fun of playing with the clay while it was spinning. They even had fun just making patterns in the slip on the wheel head.

The kids were great about taking turns and being supportive of whoever was throwing at the time. The hard part was getting them to clean up and go when it was time for their parents to pick them up.

I tried to allow the kids lots of freedom to play and express themselves however they wanted through the clay. I feel like kids seem to have too much structure in their lives and a little play time is very healthy. The children seemed to enjoy it.  I think the best compliment was hearing "This is his (or her) favorite day of the week."

The Kids Clay Classes are off for the summer but will be back in the fall. I'm looking forward to them.