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 clay modeling supply list!
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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Now I need to know what you were going to make that made them so sad! 😀 Good for you, though, for being willing to be flexible. I struggle SO much with that. “But…this is the LESSON PLAN.” Surely it’s for their own good, right? Ha. Good job, mama.
Haha! You know, other people will probably wonder that as well, so I’m going to add it in above. They were supposed to make an orange 🙂
I’m interested to know what video lessons program you are using.
They’re from the Charlotte Mason Institute (Alveary curriculum). I bought the whole membership which comes with all subjects because it’s less expensive since I use multiple subjects from them, but you can get the handicrafts (which includes clay modeling) a la carte here: https://charlottemasoninstitute.org/product/alveary-life-skills-handicraft-bundle/
I would love to see some of your more advanced work and instructions; where might l find an instructional manual?’
The clay modeling book linked above is the only one we have. It begins with very simple models and continues on with more advanced work. It describes the theory, usage, tools needed, and setup process in the introduction followed by step-by-step instructions for 60 models.
How is your clay modeling going?? I am curious what courses you took to prepare, I am struggling to figure out how to get this going LOL I have the book and materials but no experience!
We wrapped up our formal clay modeling time during school lessons a couple of weeks ago, and it went really well! I didn’t take any classes to prepare, and I also didn’t end up sticking with the book 🙂 It’s probably great, but the projects moved to slowly to keep my children’s attention. Honestly, it was even too slow for me. We continued to grab projects from YouTube, and even repeated projects some weeks in order to make them look even better or paint them a different color. It’s been one of our most fun handicrafts, and my 2nd oldest became so enamored that we bought her a clay wheel and some private lessons for Christmas. My biggest piece of advice is to purchase air-dry clay, grab some simple tools, and search for beginner projects on YouTube. That process served us well.
I’m so glad to find someone else who didn’t stick with the book. My kids love clay but I got that book and felt so uninspired and so did they. The concepts seemed really great but it was slow and lacked for us. I wish there was a more modern clay book pushed by charlotte mason fans but everyone pushes this one. Thanks for your inspiration! I love that you and your kids found a way to work for your family and they ended up loving it!
Yes, I really did try with that book, but it just wasn’t happening for us. Sometimes it’s difficult to go against the grain, but it felt totally right with this handicraft. I agree with you! Hopefully, I a new and more engaging resource will become available very soon. I wouldn’t even mind revisiting clay again if that happened.