Wire Sculpture for Preschoolers

Here’s another art invitation for sculpture lessons; this one uses WIRE! (The best part?! 100% of the supplies for this wire sculpture project for preschoolers can be purchased at the dollar store.)

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What is an “art invitation”?

Simply put, an invitation is a set of materials offered to the students where there is no end product in mind and no wrong way to explore and use the supplies. I like to think of an invitation as a challenge for the kids and a surprise for me!

Setting up your sculpture invitation

Curb appeal matters for art invitations. They have to be inviting, right? So, clear the table, get out an art tray, fill the pretty containers, and set-up a work station for your artist.

Preschool class working on wire sculptures

Art Supplies

Tools:

Wire

The wire can be any easy-to-bend aluminium wire. Just make sure the thickness of your wire and the hole size of your beads match up. This is the wire we use in the studio. and even pipe cleaners from the dollar store works well too. Cut your wire into pieces about 8-12 inches long; you’ll need 4-8 pieces per kiddo.

Beads

Any beads you have around the house will work as long as they thread on your wire. We use from Discount School Supply. Dollar store work too!

Want to make your own beads? Try these paper beads made from magazines!

Base

The base of your sculpture can be clay, playdough, salt dough, or even a rock. The clay or playdough is my favorite. This year, Miss Sam offered rocks as a base and it definitely added a new challenge.

Here’s our favorite playdough recipe.

Here’s our favorite salt dough recipe.

A note on safety

In the studio, we usually have a GROUP of young artists working with wire so we all wear safety goggles to protect our eyeballs. Our students love them; these are the ones we have.

Safety goggles and wire work

Making Your Wire Sculpture with Your Preschoolers

Using the supplies provided, artists can create their sculptures.

I love teaching side-by-side. You may want to model some of these skills:

  • Looping the wire with both ends stuck to the base
  • Twisting two pieces of wire together
  • Coiling the wire around your finger (or a pencil)
  • Creating recognizable shapes from the wire
  • Securing a bead to the end of your wire (so the rest of the beads don’t slide off)
Finished artwork with clay base

Finishing your Wire Sculpture

If your artist wants to keep his/her artwork, I suggest you keep it on paper plate or piece of cardboard until the dough/clay dries.

Wire sculpture with rock base

That said, not all art needs to be kept. Especially process art like this!

It’s perfectly okay to deconstruct your sculpture when you’re done. Put all the beads back in their container, straighten out the wires, and save your clay/dough in an air-tight container. This way, you can offer the same invitation another day!

Have you ever tried wire sculpture with your young artists?

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How to Make a Clay Pinch Pot with Preschoolers

The pinch pot is the foundations for many of our clay handbuilding projects in the art studio. So, it’s important to understand how to make a clay pinch pot AND the best way to teach your preschoolers how to do it.

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Colorful Clay Pigeon with Feathers and Googly Eyes
Pinch pot clay pigeon made by a preschool artist

Video for Teachers and Parents

These are the steps that I take and the words I use to teach my preschool (and even grade school) students how to make a pinch pot:

Best Practices for Preschool Clay Handbuilding

If you’re teaching clay sculpture to young artists, I recommend allowing plenty of time for the kids to freely explore the clay before starting on a project.

Squish it. Roll it. Stick stuff in it. Really enjoy all the sensory benefits from this art material before moving onto any project-based goals. This is probably the biggest teacher tip that I can offer.

More tips:

  • Teach rolling coils and and shaping pinch pots with play dough first. It’s easier for little fingers to squish and mold.
  • Have a wash bucket and towels nearby for artists who don’t like the feel of the dried clay on their hands. Give your students the power to wash-up whenever THEY feel like they need to.
  • Use good stuff. in the studio is from Discount School Supply. It comes in a 25lb block and will last for a good long while. In a pinch (get it?!), I’ll use.

Clay Pinch Pot Project Ideas

Now that you’ve learned how to make a clay pinch pot with your preschoolers, what do you do with those pots?

The possibilities are almost endless!

We have Pinterest board to inspire you. Notice that some of these finished projects are still bowls but others are totally transformed!

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How to Make a Clay Pinch Pot with Preschoolers
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Clay Videos Classes from DoArtBetter.com

If you’re looking for clay classes, we’ve got ’em. Check out our video classes for preschool artist, grade school artists, teens, and adults. No kiln needed! All of our clay videos use an air-dry clay.

Clay Art Project for Preschoolers: Bobblehead Pigeons

Today, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite clay art project for preschoolers. We do this project every May. Since May is sculpture month for our students, this clay handbuilding lesson ties into the hilarious story Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Williams.

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Clay Art Project for Preschoolers: Clay Booblehead Pigeon with Feathers and Googly Eyes
Colorful Clay Pigeon with Feathers and Googly Eyes

Preparing for Class

In preparations for our clay art project with our preschoolers, we measure out equal-ish chunks for clay, set them out on a tray, and cover the tray with plastic wrap.

Supplies needed:

  • Clay tools
  • Acrylic paints (after the clay is dry)
  • Clear glossy spray paint (optional)

If you don’t want to use acrylic (non-washable) paints with your students, I highly recommend these tempera ones. They cover really well, dry with a glossy finish, and look amazing on clay!

Beginning the Class

After reading the story, we always have journal time. By reflecting in our journals with drawing materials, we could talk about the parts of a pigeon (head, neck, body, eyes, beak, etc). In our discussion, we looked at the illustrations in the book and noted the shape of each of these pigeon body parts.

Journal time with our students drawing pigeons

This type of discussion makes our clay art project easier for preschoolers!

Preschool Clay Sculpture Lesson

Step One: Making the Body

We gave our students ball of class about the size of a golf ball and invited them to squish around and warm it up! This is called conditioning the clay and it makes it easier to work with. We like to give them plenty of time to just PLAY with the materials before we do any kind of demonstrating.

The golf ball sized piece that they have will becoming the pigeon’s body. We teach the kiddos how to make a pinch pot by sticking their thumb into the clay ball (like a popsicle!) and slowly opening up the hole by pinching with their other fingers on that hand.

We’ve created a video to show you the words we use and how to teach young artists this handbuilding technique. You can also check out this blog post for more on pinch pots.

VIDEO: How to make a pinch pot with your preschoolers

Step Two: Making the Head

To make the head, hand out another smaller ball of clay to each student. Like the size of a large marble or a ping-pong ball.

We show the students how to pinch the clay to make eye sockets and a beak shape. We also show them how they can “erase” their face by rolling the ball on the table and returning it to a perfectly round shape.

Step Three: Making the Neck

We twisted pipecleaners together to make the neck. If you have young preschoolers, I would recommend doing this step for them before class. Pre-K-ers can usually accomplish the bending and twisting with a little help.

We use a whole pipe cleaner and bend it in half three times (so it’s 1/6 of it’s original length). Give it a twist each time you bend it so that it stays together.

This ensures that your neck can support the weight of your pigeons head.

Step Four: Googly Eyes and Feathers

Now, it’s time for the fun part! We offer feathers and googly eyes for the kids to bring their pigeons to life! I love having a good selection of different eye balls to choose from.

Some of our Favorite Pigeons

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Clay Lesson for Preschoolers - Bobblehead Pigeons

3 Ideas for Outside Creativity

Want to make the most of this beautiful spring weather? Try taking CREATIVITY outside today! Here are three ideas to get you started:

? DRAW OUTSIDE – any drawing materials will work. We like sketchbooks because then the papers don’t blow away! Draw “big”, like the scenery you see in front of you. Or, draw “small”, like the details of a tiny flower you find or a small bug

? FIND TEXTURES – take a sheet of paper and a crayon or charcoal stick and find different textures. Place the paper over a tree trunk and then rub with the long side of the crayon. Next try the sidewalk, or the picnic table. Or a leaf! How many textures can you find? See if your friends can identify the textures!

? TAKE PICTURES – take the camera outside with zero pressure of making a great picture. Just have fun. Zoom out. Zoom in. Go on a treasure hunt. Teach the kids how to use the camera and notice how different their perspective is!

What will you do to be creative today? (Inside or outside!)

How to Talk to Children about their Art

Kids drawings are unique and personal.  How we address these artist expressions is important!

Ever struggle with what to say when a child shows you a picture they’ve drawn? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• “Tell me about it!”
• “What inspired you?”
• “What materials did you use?”
• “Can you talk me through how you made this?”
• “I like looking at your art.”
• “I love hearing you talk about your art.”
• “If you were to do it again, would you do anything differently?”
• “Did you discover anything new as you were making this?”
• “Do you which part attracts my attention? I noticed THIS part first because…”

What phrases do you use to talk about art with your kids?