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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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.
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
Colorful Clay Pigeon with Feathers and Googly Eyes 
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