Clay Hands

This year the fourth graders made hands of out clay. I start with a slab of clay I cut for each child.

Next we put our hands on top of the slab and use a small pointy dowel to cut. I have the children work on top of fabric samples. They press down with the dowel until they can feel the fabric below and trace their hands. One tip: have them keep all their fingers together and just DRAW the lines between their fingers with the dowel or a toothpick lightly in the clay. The fingers when separated are especially vulnerable to breakage.  I was having the children draw the lines of their hands with the toothpick but this seemed to weaken the piece so I stopped that.

After a period of time I fire them and bring the surviving hands back up to the art room where most of the children are able to paint with glazes. I set out two colors on each table and have the children paint them, rotating around the room at five minute intervals. This is a great time to 'redo' several hands.

 

Finished Hands