a faithful attempt: November 2010

Grade 6 students made these super cute clay snowmen.

This is my take on the lesson found at the fantastic website Deep Space Sparkle.

The only requirement was that the snowman had to be carrying something. I first demonstrated how to make a simple snowman using three different sized balls and using the 'scratch and attach' method simply using water. You really need to emphasize that the kids can't make anything thinner than a finger, otherwise it can easily break off during the drying process. Once the snowmen are finished, have students carefully poke a hole all the way up through the snowman with a pencil. This will help it dry in the middle and hold it together better.

The final snowmen carried a variety of objects, from baguettes, to lollipops, to hot cocoa, candy canes and even a chainsaw! These ones are dry (after about 2 weeks) and ready to be bisque fired. I make sure to really let them dry thoroughly to prevent any 'blow-ups' in the kiln.

After bisque firing:

Now they have been painted with glaze (we used Mayco Stroke & Coat)

For glazing, the kids were instructed to paint on 2-3 even coats, not to miss any spots and to leave about half a centimeter free from glaze at the bottom of the snowman (to prevent them from sticking to the kiln shelves during firing- I hate stilting). They also have to sponge the bottoms off afterwards and then I double check them after school as well.

These are so cute and we got multiple offers to buy the entire set.

Great job Grade 6's!