Here's a first grader's drawing. She worked on it for almost forty minutes.

I made it have a big head on purpose. It looks cuter like that."

This third grader has spent almost every class period drawing bugs and dinosaurs. For some reason, a couple weeks ago, he decided to move into the third dimension.

It's a praying mantis and it's going to eat that bug. They eat bad bugs."

This budding assemblage artist constantly looks for new items to incorporate into her pieces.

When I introduced clay to the students, I didn't tell them what to make, just encouraged them to explore it. The kindergarteners didn't even realize that the clay could be fired. After a couple weeks of general exploration, one student didn't want to put his creation back in to the tub, "Can I keep it? Please!" That's when I told him and the other students that this type of clay could be fired. You should have heard the excited shouts of glee! I'm serious.

I explained to them that I could fire their creations, with some limitations. Man that was hard trying to to explain to those five and six year-olds.

I discussed a few basic principles, and let them go.

It was funny because one little boy worked for a while on this "snow monster" and earnestly said, "I'm done. Now, will you go burn this?" So I told him that it had to dry out before I fired it in the kiln . . .

This creation was made with florist wire, a recycled lunch tray, and some donated styrofoam.

"It's kind of like Lagoon [a local amusement park], 'cause they have a sky ride. It's like a roller coaster."

wow! Christmas is over. Usually I feel sad and let down this time of year, but this year, I've managed to procure the keys to my school, and can spend some hours in my classroom! I was there yesterday, and will go again this morning. Mostly, I'm changing out the kids' art displays, getting rid of orphaned art, and sorting through my collage goodies.

We'll all be back to school on January 2, and I want the kids to come back to a freshly organized art room.

I'm hoping to work up some more menus (these are the signs that go in each center), especially for clay. The kids LOVE clay. I hate to see their sad faces, though, when a sculpture or other precious creations loses some of its body parts. The younger kids create animals and people with the teeniest skinniest limbs. I often tell them that they are sturdy enough, or well attached enough, but usually they shake their heads, "No, these are great, see I put a lot of water with it." My response is always something along the lines of, "Well, if they can stay on until the piece is dry enough to fire, then I'll fire it." Most of the time their little creatures don't even make it from the clay table to my drying area.

It's good for the kids to see this. It makes it so that I'm not dictating arbitrary objectives, but letting them learn from real life.

Their second and third clay pieces are sturdier.

The kids create sculptures with marshmallows and toothpicks--I tell them that if they want to eat these creations, they'll need to sketch them for me!

Here's a christmas tree sculpture from a second grader:

These clay sculptures are ready for the students to wrap up to give as gifts

It's really important for students to explore. When students get their first chance to paint, many spend the whole class period painting sheet after sheet. Usually after one or two classes of this (and the knowledge that they can use more than one sheet of paper!) they stop before the mud stage. This kindergartner found a good stopping point:

The kids were excited that I added some new treasures to the collage center:

"I just made this! It might be to give to my mom, but I might have to keep it. Can you see where I wrote on it?"

One of the first graders created a gingerbread house, complete with figure.

"It's a girl, and here's where she lives. The name of it is just House"

During the same class period, another student created Santa from a tube.

"This fabric is perfect for Santa!"

At least half of my students are putting the finishing touches on their clay masterpieces. They'll be giving them as holiday gifts.

But not everyone is making pots. Some students are creating elaborate "Snake Mouths", complete with teeth.