| Here are some great ideas for hands-on art projects | | | | a coil centered on the dish. When removed from the |
| for students ranging from lower elementary to high | | | | drape mold the dish can be fired and then decorated |
| school, which introduce students to ceramics design | | | | with paints or glazes. |
| without a great investment in equipment. If there is no | | | | Bisque ceramic tiles are squares of clay which have |
| kiln at your school, there are many places such as | | | | been fired one time at a low temperature - i.e. white, |
| other schools' and universities' art departments, | | | | unglazed, fired clay tiles. These are inexpensive to buy |
| paint-your-own pottery centers, and local pottery | | | | and can be decorated with underglazes, any type of |
| supply stores which will be able to fire your ceramics | | | | paint (even watercolors), pencils, inks, crayons, even |
| projects for you at low cost. | | | | chalk. After decorating, several coats of a clear glaze |
| Clay art dinnerware is easy to make using low-cost | | | | can be painted over the design and the tiles fired to |
| molds. Clay is rolled to the desired thickness over a | | | | cone 04, which makes for a professional, finished |
| slab mold. Slab molds are flat and textured with | | | | appearance. Or, several coats of a white gloss low |
| various patterns so that the rolled-out clay takes on | | | | fire glaze can be used as the base and then designs |
| the relief pattern of the mold in reverse. While the clay | | | | can be drawn or painted with underglazes or ceramic |
| is still on the slab mold, the reverse side (which will be | | | | paint and fired again to cone 04. This technique makes |
| the bottom of the plate) can be decorated with | | | | for a majolica (Renaissance-style) effect. The |
| wooden or rubber stamps, or even found objects, to | | | | student-created tiles can be the basis of a tile mural. |
| produce a unique pattern. The plate is then peeled | | | | When students work together to create a tile mural |
| from the slab mold and placed on a curved drape | | | | for the school building itself or for other spaces in |
| mold. The plate is gently pressed down on the drape | | | | public, it teaches teamwork and collaboration, and instills |
| mold, which changes the plate's profile from flat to | | | | a great deal of pride in the participants. Mural creation |
| curved. While on the drape mold, feet can be made | | | | can bring the entire school community, students, their |
| for the dish from small balls of clay; or else a base can | | | | parents, the faculty and school administration together, |
| be made by rolling excess clay into a rope and placing | | | | and be a truly unique experience for the entire school. |