My first graders this year created pumpkins from clay using the pinch pot method. They have Art two fourty-five minute periods per week. Three classes before Halloween, I have the students work with clay. They create a simple pinch pot, turn it over, smooth the rounded sides, pinch a stem on the top and draw a face on it using a paper clip. They also put their initials on the back.

Due to the time crunch, I let the pumpkins dry over night and then I stack them in the small kiln, on low heat (with the lid cracked open) for ten hours. Then the following day, they are dried out enough to start a cone 4 bisque fire. The next class, the first graders learn about glaze, the special paint for clay, as they paint at least four ¨layers¨ of glaze on their pumpkins. I only let the students have the orange glaze at their seats but I call them by groups of four to hand in their pumpkins.

When they come over to hand them in, I have green, brown and black glaze for them to quickly add details. I do this do they do not mix all the glaze together at their tables. They are also limited to how much time they have so they don´t over do it with the other colors. They quickly add black to the face of their jack-o’-lantern and green or brown to the stem. After the class, I loaded the kiln for a cone 5 fire and they will be ready to hand out the last art class before Halloween. Happy Halloween!

Clay is great fun and I like schedule a clay unit around the end of November. Students are starting to get a bit restless with the holidays around the corner and working with clay recharges the energy in the studio. With a bit of control and technique they can have an earthenware pot at the end of their session other than a mud pie, although mud pies are fun too.

The three basic ways of making an earthenware pot are the pinch, slab and coil methods. Here is a very basic introduction to each of the methods:

1. The Pinch Pot
   Make a handful of clay into a ball then push one of your thumbs into the middle of it. Leaving the thumb inside and pressing with the other fingers, you “pinch” and rotate. When the opening is big enough, you may want to place it on a surface and shape it using both hands and smoothing out cracks as you go.

2. The Slab Pot
   Take a handful of clay and press it down with the palm of your hand. (This is often described as making a hamburger patty.) Use a roller to even out the surface and be careful not to roll it too thin. Cut a rectangle out of the “slab” of clay. The rectangle will be made into a cylinder by using the “score and slip” method to join the sides. Then you cut out a circle or base out of the slab to attach to the bottom also using the score and slip method.

3. The Coil Pot
   One way to start is to make a circular slab base. Then you make a coil or “snake” by simply rubbing the clay between your hands. Measure the coil to a length that can be made into a ring and placed along the edge of the base. Attach the coil to either the side or on top of the base by using the score and slip method. Make as many of identical rings as you want then stack and join them. To give the pot extra support you may want to smooth out the crease between each coil on the inside of the pot.

Each kind of pot will need cracks smoothed out as you go, so just be careful not to use too much water which could lead to a collapsed pot. You may want to play around with the shape and add different textures to make it unique.