Naughty and Nice Clay Gremlins

Bronte B (Year 3)

Back to school after a wonderful 2 week break! Halloween is just around the corner, and although this isn't an event traditionally celebrated in Australia, I'm finding more and more of my kids are joining in the fun! I don't usually 'do' Halloween projects, but it does provide an opportunity to delve into fun fantasy projects - so this week we're creating Clay Gremlins :)



Maybe it's the 3D aspect, or maybe they just love getting their hands dirty - either way the kids LOVE working with clay - it's one of the standout favourite lessons each term!

We're using a basic pinch-pot construction method for our gremlins, and concentrating on adding impishly naughty facial features .... we'll add legs later with ribbon and beads.
Before we began we spent some time discussing our gremlins.... Gremlins are creatures (according to the movie) that are cute and cuddly during daylight hours.... but after midnight they transform into creatures that do all sorts of unexpected things! We decided that, like people, they probably all have very different personalities, and as artists (because they are fantasy creatures and not real!) we get to decide what the personality of our own gremlin will be. 

Some kids have decided to make naughty gremlins that creep into the kitchen and eat all the left-over cake and ice-cream while everyone is asleep! Some of the older students (who have seen the movie and were quite eager to share until I intervened) are making their gremlins a little bit darker! Lots of kids have decided to make nice gremlins, who happily sit on their bookshelves during the day, but at night, when their owners are asleep, do all sorts of helpful things like completing unfinished homework!

The kids have so many ideas they want to share, and I love it when the discussion starts to piggy-back, with one idea sparking 3 or 4 others ... to me, this is creativity in action, through lively discussion and sharing ideas. But eventually I have to cut it short or we won't have any time left to actually make our gremlins!!

We use basic pinch-pot construction to create the body, which we flip onto the side, flattening and twisting until we are happy with the mouth shape. We then add eyes and other features using the score and slip method.

After they have been fired, we'll add ribbon legs to our Gremlins with clay bead feet to dangle over the side of a desktop or bookcase shelf.

I'll post the finished works when they have been bisque fired and painted in a couple of weeks :)
# To see our finished Gremlins go here ....