Clay Texture Hearts

Our kindergarten classes learn a new letter each week, and I try to follow along and do a project that incorporates that letter. Sometimes the order really works in my favor... when we created the clay hearts, the letter was "T" for "texture," and when we glazed them a couple weeks later, it was "H" for "heart.

This project is simple, and the results are beautiful. It can be completed with 24 kids, no aides, in 35 minutes. The only major prep is to portion the clay into balls so it is quickly distributed.

First, the clay balls are pounded down into a flat disc - this is noisy, but the kids love it and it saves me from pre-rolling slabs. We talk about what is too thick and too thin - and worse case, they are too thin and have to be rolled again. Then they trace a heart stencil with a wooden stick. Once traced, they use a stretched-out paper clip to cut them out (just as good as real clay tools). Then comes the real fun - I have "texture trays" on the tables with various materials like plastic forks, straws, etc for students to make textures with on their heart. I tell them it's best not to poke through the clay too much. As they finish, I write their name on the back of their heart, poke a hole in the top, and they work on a "T" handwriting/coloring page to finish up the time.

For glazing, I take about 5 students at a time to a glazing "center" as they are working on a different project that they can complete fairly independently. They choose one color to glaze the top with. I really enjoy the Sax True Flow Gloss Glazes available at School Specialty: Art Education - though I just saw some glazes from Roven Ceramics at an Art Ed conference that come in powder form and are nicely priced.

Adorable.