Clay cacti and pinch pots, 4th grade

Students studied examples of colorful Mexican terra cotta and succulent plants before trying their hands at building clay versions-  using pinching, coiling, cut slabs, and joining techniques, followed by surface design. First day focused on pinching the pot, smoothing and adding a coil foot and textures. Second day was forming the plants with modeling, coiling, and cutting, then rolling pebbles with the remaining clay for pot filler. After firing, we spent the final day painting with good quality bottled tempera.