Exploring Clay at the Pottery Wheel

This morning in the Oak room, several children flocked to the pottery wheels. For some children, it was their first time using the pottery wheel, and they were exploring and trying to figure out how it worked. Others had experienced the pottery wheel before, and they returned to see what new creations they could make with clay.

Victoria: "I'm making a monkey with the water!"

The pottery wheel table had a bowl with a few sponges and a little water sitting between the wheels, and the children squeezed water onto the clay to make it slippery.

Mitchell: "I'm going to make it into a teapot with a lot more water."The children were also fascinated by the spinning motion of the pottery wheel.

"My arms are spinning around!" said Mitchell.
"I'm gonna make it really fast!"

Mitchell enjoyed manipulating the clay on the wheel and in his hands, and he had some thoughts and ideas about what he wanted to make with the clay.

"I'm waiting for it to turn into a teapot."
"I'm making it into a ball."
"This is play-dough!"

Jana was figuring out how to make the wheel spin at just the right speed. She was also exploring how she could shape the clay, and how the clay felt in her hands.

"There's too much on my hands," Jana said.

The children were fascinated by the pottery wheel, possibly because there are so many choices they can make while working at the wheel. Today they chose how fast to make the wheel go around, how much water to put on the clay, and how to shape the clay with their hands. The pottery wheel is also very open-ended, so whether the children were expert sculptors or just checking it out for the first time, there was something new for everyone to learn and discover through exploration of clay.

Have a great weekend!
-Ms. Hill

Teaching Strategies Objectives for Development and Learning
The Arts #33: Explores the visual arts