On the second day of the checkerboard project, students painted their bone dry boards with under glaze. I was tempted to fire them first and then glaze, but that would take more time to get a full kiln to fire, and the kids want to try and have them done by Christmas. So, we had to be REALLY careful moving our boards from the shelf to the table, and we did have a few boards snap, but it's going to be okay! I thought that I would just glaze them together, but some of the kids boards warped a lot during the drying process so instead, we are going to glue them to cardboard and felt to give them stability.
Penguins! One of the few very creative student checker pieces!
Some basket balls...
One student made bugs for his pieces! Another very creative set of checker pieces.
This is such an amazing project idea!!!! Thank you so much for sharing it. I cannot wait to see how they all come out.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I can't wait either! It's always interesting to see how each class approached projects different...Class A tends to rush, be less creative, and actually broke a few of their checkerboards while underglazing! Class B hasn't underglazed yet, but their boards are already better than Class B. They rolled them out better and more uniform. Class B's boards have lesson warping to them.
DeleteHow do you keep all the pieces separated? What is the board size? This is something these kids will keep forever!
ReplyDeleteThe board size is 8"x8", with 1" squares. Naturally, it will shrink a little as the clay dries. So far, it's been pretty easy keeping the pieces separated. In this particular instance, one of my classes is actually behind the other, so it is easier keeping track of things. Class A will have all of their pieces sculpted by the time Class B gets to sculpt theirs (today Class B under-glazed their boards and Class A will sculpt their second set of pieces on Monday). Everyone was asked to put their initials on their pieces at the end of class. I went through with a needle tool to poke holes in the thicker pieces and checked for that. Also, everyone is, for the most part, creating different pieces.
DeleteWow, this is such an ambitious project! How do you keep track of all the little pieces, so nobody loses anything? Had you made one before yourself to know what challenges to expect? I'm so impresses with the scope of this. I'd like to make one myself!
ReplyDeleteAt the end of class, I had all of the kids stack their pieces together on one large board. I think I have one student left who needs to sculpt 4 more pieces for their first set, and then I will load them all in the kiln so the board is free for the next round. I'm also going to write a little note to myself as to which class's projects are on which kiln shelf.
DeleteThis is actually the first time I've done this project, and no, I didn't try it out first...I was a little nervous doing it with the kids without trying first, but I knew what to expect with the clay. My concentration is in ceramics so I knew to expect warping and such if they rolled their boards too thin...one class did really well rolling out their boards, the other not so much (too many chatty Kathys!). So, instead of glaze firing them, I've decided I'm going to glue them to cardboard and felt, and then spray them with a lacquer.
Hi, I love your blogs. What type of clay do you use with the kids?
ReplyDeleteHi, I love your blogs. What type of clay do you use with the kids?
ReplyDelete