Clay Nests

In our Art Teacher Swap last year, Sue Davies did these sweet little nests with my students. They were so sweet and totally perfect for these young Artist that we chose to do them again (click here for previous post).   This year Sue did some videos so my students could watch them ahead of time and have some prior knowledge.  This allowed for more work time in the hour of clay.  First Mrs. Davies shared about pinch pots. 

Then how to take that pinch pot and turn it into a nest.

This year I allowed the students to use tempera cakes to decorate their nest.  They spend about a half an hour 'getting rid of the white spots' of the clay.  I allow them to use any color they want. When finished, they bring it to me and I ask them to write their name on a name tag.

There is always a bit of a line so they simply place their next on top of the name tags and finish the class time play blocks. I then take the 15 minutes left of class to wrap these little treats up in tissue paper and rubber band their name on the top.

By doing this wrap around the nest, students can easily bring them home without losing the little eggs.  I give the whole batch to the homeroom teacher who I think is going to be handing these back to students right before Mother's Day in case they want to use it for a gift. 

Really successful little project!! They don't take a lot of room in the kiln.  They are all unique.  They are all successful. And they are the sweetest when finished.  Put it on your list for next year as a must do!