Lesson 5: Press and Smooth (Pre-K)

Materials

• Deli container with clay
• Tray with damp sponge
• 8 x 10” cardboard base

Activities

Step 1: Invitation to Explore

• What did we do with the clay last week?
• Let’s make pieces using what you learned last week.
• Make 4 pieces by rolling, pinching, etc. 
• Invite a student to put the pieces together. 
• What do you think would happen if I turn this sculpture upside down? Hold it upside down—it falls apart. How can we make these pieces stay together?
• Look at the lines between the pieces. We have to make them disappear. How do you think we can do this?
• Demo pressing and smoothing until the lines between separate pieces disappear. Hold the sculpture upside down again to show that it now sticks together.
• Let’s make clay sculptures that stand up and pass the upside-down test!

Step 2: Work-time

• Have 3-4 students come to the art center.
• Have students work directly on the table.
• Do not give them any instructions.
• As they work, ask them what they are doing, and help give words to their actions — roll, poke, pinch, pull, press, etc.
• Take photos as students explore for documentation. Record their observations as they work.
• After students have had ample time to explore, ask them to press or roll their clay into a chunk and place the clay into deli cups with lids.
• Save two clay sculptures for reflection.

Step 3: Reflection

• What do you see that is the same about these two sculptures?
• After reflection, have the students whose work was shared roll it into a ball and put it in the deli container in the art center.

Vocabulary

Clay, soft, hard, cool, wet, silky, roll, squeeze, poke, twist, flatten, break, pinch, sculpture