Charlotte Mason Handicrafts: Clay Modeling

Charlotte Mason Handicrafts: Clay Modeling | Heritage Mom

source: https://heritagemom.com/index.php/2020/11/29/handicrafts-clay-modeling/

I had (most of) the equipment ready to go for clay modeling last Friday. Admittedly, I had to google "armature" and decided we were going to be bootleg - or live on the edge, depending on how you see the world - and proceed without that part. Clay modeling is our Charlotte Mason handicraft for this term, and my kiddos were so excited until I told them what they were supposed to make.

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After seeing all of their faces literally droop in unison (like watching air seeping from a punctured balloon), I took a few seconds to consider the instructional book I'd printed, the video lessons I'd paid for, and all of my...plans. We are using A Manual of Clay-Modelling, and the first model they were to mold was an orange. The models in this book build upon each other in a "carefully ordered sequence," and I do plan to go through them. It has directions for 60 models of natural objects, and I know that it will be a useful resource for learning the art of clay modeling rather than just making crafts out of clay.

But those faces!

So we ditched the book and the lessons for our first week and made vases using this YouTube tutorial instead. And they LOVED it! They all dug in and sat at the table molding, smoothing, and working intensely forever! We did not include the faces on ours, and the project is much more difficult than it looks in the video so plan to be on hand as help and encouragement. We will return to our planned lessons soon enough because I recognize their value, but it is also nice to let them feel the material and dig into something they are interested in and feel good about creating. I'm guessing that we'll be doing a little of both from week to week.

If you're interested in trying clay modeling as your next Charlotte Mason handicraft, be sure to check out my full

Sometimes I plan to zig, but my little people so clearly need to zag. I don't always get it right, but I'm thankful that I didn't let my rigidity rob them of the opportunity to joyfully work with their hands.

Once the vases dried, the kids coated them with spray paint and proudly set them in prominent places around our home, according to their personalities and preference. It was interesting to see who placed theirs on the fireplace mantel vs. a bedroom shelf vs. smack dab in the middle of the kitchen table. Every day is an adventure with this crew!

Maybe they will understand this a bit more now: "Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Adding our favorite tutorials for additional projects we've made here (will add as we go):

Pinch Pot Bowl Tutorial Part 1 (beginning at time stamp 2:10) and Part 2 (We do not have all of the tools she used, but we learned a lot about the Day 2 objectives and were able to make what we do have work well.)

Clay lantern or lamp - We made the second option (cylinder). We don't have fondant plungers, so we used a tiny cookie cutter. There are other tutorials that show making designs with small dots similar to tin can lanterns, and those look pretty too.

Clay dragon - This was a special request by my 1A Lower (2nd grader). I honestly wasn't sure he'd be able to do it, but he's tenacious and was able to pull it out in the end.

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