Clay Pinch Pots

This month, artists in PK and Kindergarten made pinch pots using clay. First, we learned that clay comes from the Earth and is made up of different minerals. For thousands of years, people have been using clay to make pottery, making the clay into cups, bowls and vases to use. We also learned that clay goes through many stages to become a pinch pot and the first stage is wet clay. 

We watched a demonstration and then everyone got their own ball of clay. We felt it in our hands and noticed that it was wet and squishy. To make a pinch pot, first we put our thumb in the middle of the ball of clay. We pressed down to create a hole and then used our fingers to pinch the sides. We turned our clay as we pinched so that the sides of our pot would be even and in a circular shape. 

After we were done, the pinch pots were left to dry for a week and then put in the kiln. We learned that the kiln is an oven for the clay to get heated and become hard. We felt some examples of pots that had already been fired in the kiln so we would know what to expect. 

The following class, students got their pinch pots back after they had been bisque fired in the kiln. Students noticed that when we used the clay, it was a gray color, and after being fired in the kiln, the clay turned white. We glazed our pinch pots using glaze to add color. There were 6 different color stations in the room and students went to the colors we wanted to use. 

We started by painting the inside of our pots with one color of glaze, and then carried our pinch pots carefully to another color station to paint glaze on the outside. Each color needed 3 coats, or layers, of glaze. We made sure to dab and pat our brush around the pinch pots to get all the areas and cover all the white spots. Students got their pinch pots back after they had been fired again, which melted the glaze onto our pot and made it shiny and bright. Below are some examples of our finished pinch pots:

Jacob, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Hannah, PK (Blackwood)

Joshua, PK (Blackwood)

Dalton, Kindergarten (Bolton)

Norah, PK (Blackwood)

Brianna, PK (Blackwood)