We made clay roses this year for our 5th grade clay project. They glazed so beautifully! I got the idea from smART Class: Clay Roses. Their unglazed roses look gorgeous and her class made them quickly and easily.

Our attempts weren’t quite as easy as hers were, but we got there. The 5th graders could glaze them however they thought they would look best.

In between the time that we made them and the time that we glazed them, my principal wanted to start a Multicultural Celebration for our school. Coincidentally, our clay roses are now going to represent Iraq for the Multicultural Celebration. I didn’t know until I researched that the National Flower of Iraq is the Red Rose, so these worked out perfectly.

The next time we do this, I’m going to plan on it taking 2 class periods. The end moments in art were stressful, and a few students didn’t get their names or their art addresses on their roses. So that meant that I  needed to make a chart labeling what rose belonged to which student in which class. Next time we’ll just prep the Ziplock bags and Sharpies for labeling them.

It dramatically changed what I could do as a clay teacher once I discovered how easy it is to have a 2 part clay lesson. All you need to do it get a class set of Ziplock bags, label each bag with the students’ names and art addresses. Put their bags on their desks as they work, and show them how to carefully get the clay creations into the bags and most of the air out before closing the Ziplock bags. Next time…