pottery

Today I had all of our y4's for the whole morning. We made 'Roman funerary urns'! We used the coil method to construct basic cylindrical pots before adding rims and facial details. Hopefully most of them will survive the kiln - if not then we can pretend they are authentic artefacts that have just been found, unfortunately broken, by a team of archaeologists.

City blocks

Our james Rizzi inspired, slab-clay built containers are finished. The children added details, using sharpies, around the windows, eyes etc. Now deciding whether to seal with a coat of neat PVA or not. They are going to be used as pencil pots and such like so won't need to be waterproof or anything.

sgraffito & Tudor housing

Today y3's decorated their fired terracotta coil pots from last week. They used a sgraffito technique to scratch through a layer of black paint back to the clay.

Meanwhile the y4's have embarked on an ambitious Tudor housing project. They are aiming to construct 20+ two-storey dwellings complete with thatched roofs! First part today was to cut the timber to construct the panels that will make up the lower storey.

Greeks

 In y3 we've been creating some wax resist pieces. We used oil pastel rather than wax crayon as it was easier to work with. Next week we'll be cutting them up into 'vases'.

In y1 we continued with our growing theme and created pieces that included something extending! The children had great ideas - a car becoming a stretch limo, an elephants trunk growing longer. a giraffe's neck extending, Rapunzel's hair growing etc.

pots

Yesterday afternoon the y5's, all 31 of them (!), made 'canopic' jars out of clay. We used the coil technique to build cylindrical pots. We'll be making the sculpted lids next time!

And then in ceramics club we made flowers - to be glazed next week - to put in our vases that we've already created. The whole piece will then be a Mother's Day gift.

ceramics 2

Today, the y2's managed to underglaze and decorate their 'rice' bowls. They're in the kiln as I type - hope they turn out ok - the children are expecting to be able to eat out of them during their upcoming Chinese feast.

yesterday

A bit of wax resist with Y3. Ancient Greek designs which we are going to cut into vases and urns.

 

Watery-paint blown trees and finger print leaves with Y1.

potty

Coil pots with Y3 yesterday to tie in with their Greek project. We used a tube as a former and found it much easier than just trying to coil the  clay 'sausages' free-style as we have done in the past.

 

 

Here they are in the kiln prior to going through a drying and then a firing programme. Some of the children managed to add rims to their pots.

 

 

We won't glaze them as we are after a matt finish and our glazes are all gloss. (Note to self - order some matt glazes!) We'll probably use poster paints to add decoration or even just sharpie pens. The latter might be better to achieve a finer line.

no time to breathe!

A very busy last couple of days in school. In FS1 they are currently looking at 'when I grow up...'. So we did drawings that literally grew up!

 

 

In Y3 they've just started studying the Ancient Greeks so we drew Greek warriors and mythical beasts. Next week we'll be making pots using the coil method, which we'll then decorate with similar images.

 Today, Y1 painted some huge papier mache trees. We completed 5 in all - they will form part of a magical forest (hence the strange colouring!).

And finally, in Y2 we drew some dinosaurs.

Oh and we've also been making clay islands (based on an upturned thumb pot) but I didn't manage to get any pics! Nearly the weekend - might have a chance to recharge!

painted pots

Today in Y3 we painted the 'Greek' pots we made over the last two weeks. A mix of black paint and s'graffito with a bent paperclip resulted in this image of Medusa.

 

 

A lot of the pots had cracked but this only added to their 'ancient-ness' - we chose to explain it away by saying that of course they'd be like that after over 2000 years!

We painted our 'Greek' pots yesterday. We scratched back to the terracotta clay using a pin for extra detail. They're sitting on our 'market stall' waiting to tempt passers by.

page pals & pots

Managed to get Enterprise club up and running again. We began to batch paint our bookmarks.You might just be able to spot some frogs, horses, rabbits and the odd mouse. We'll be detailing them further next week.



We've also been going potty again. Thumb pots with handles and rims this week. I think we'll be decorating them next week - we just haven't got the space to make and dry much more!

more clay



Today we made labyrinths out of clay - we've been studying Theseus & the Minotaur this week in Literacy. We went along with the tenuous premise that Ancient Greek tourists might want to buy a souvenir after having visited Knossos in Crete!

This is a pic that shows stuff we've got drying. Luckily we have a corner in our classrooom where we can leave it undisturbed for a while.

coil pots

Yesterday we made pots using coils of clay. We smoothed the sides using that expensive and highly sophisticated piece of equipment called a lollipop (popsicle) stick! We left the bottom and insides as they were both for decorative purposes and to show how they were originally constructed. We'll be decorating them with black painted designs when they are dry.

thumb pots

We're doing the Ancient Greeks this term so in art we had a go at making some clay pots. We've started off with thumb pots (or pinch pots if you prefer) and will be going onto coil pots. Unfortunately we haven't got a kiln so are having to use air-drying clay - am sure the pots will still be reasonably serviceable though. We'll varnish them to add a bit of protection 'cos they can sometimes be quite fragile.

The children thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands dirty (literally!). I've reminded them that aprons are a very good idea!

Greek Pots

In Y6 we have been fashioning coil pots to tie in with an Ancient Greek theme. Not having access to a kiln, we used air drying clay. Due to timetabling the pieces were left for over a week before the handles were added and shrinkage caused cracks to appear. This was despite very careful smoothing and use of slip. However we think that it was a happy accident as it gives the appearance of very aged pots that may well be a couple of thousand years old!