The Art Studio has been buzzing lately with lots of wonderful clay work from students Kindergarten through Upper Elementary! Students have been exploring a range of clay processes and techniques such as coil building, slab rolling, pinching, and throwing on the pottery wheel. 

Working with clay has many benefits for children of all ages beyond simply providing a creative experience. It is a complex sensory experience that encourages self-expression, helps promote self-confidence, and develops problem-solving and motor skills. Because clay is highly responsive to touch and very forgiving, children become engrossed in their work: they are able to express and articulate their ideas through shaping clay and learning to repair mistakes. Clay is different from other art mediums in that it requires an understanding of the three dimensional world. While working on their projects, students must move around to see their creation from all sides. From this, they begin to understand shape, form, and perspective, and gain knowledge of planning methods and problem solving as they map out their creation.

The clay projects we explored in the Art Studio were designed to introduce new processes and techniques, as well as to encourage individual imagination. Kindergarten students explored the slab rolling technique by creating clay owls to connect with their vertebrate unit. They also created small pinch-pots that they made into candles for a holiday gift. Lower Elementary students crafted a wide range of projects from tiny tea cups to funny face jugs, and funky coil-pots to wheel-thrown cups. Upper Elementary students created a variety of pots on the pottery wheel and constructed impressive slab-built castles! Each student truly enjoyed the process of working with clay and as a result, created many wonderful finished projects.