Slab leaves

           It is officially fall! So that means we are starting to get into full swing on our seasonal art projects. I am doing a throwback from a lesson I did years ago and love for little kids. We are learning what slabs (flat pieces of clay used for sculpture) and other ceramic terms. This is an easy peasy project that yields nice results and teaching young kids a lot of the basics with clay. And really - they just love doing this project and getting to work with clay this early into the school year.
          I have had children draw their own leaves in the past but if you are short on time which I always seem to be you can have them use a leaf template. Then with a pencil or clay tool you can trace around the leaf shape, remove scraps and draw lines on your leaf. Don't forget to have kids write their name on the back and possibly the date. Some of our vocabulary is geometric and free-form shapes, form, kiln, and slab. We also glaze these leaves and that gives me a chance to talk to kids about how I use my kiln. They really love learning about this project.


Before firing in the kiln

After firing in the kiln

After using glaze and then putting in the kiln to fire a 2nd time