Air-Dry Clay is Magic!

It can be tough to do anything meaningful with clay if you do not have access to a kiln. I have heard of a lot of broken and disabled kilns in schools because no one had a strong knowledge of ceramics. It’s easy to kill a kiln if you don’t know what you are doing. And let’s face it, unless you are me, you don’t have three kilns sitting around the house. This was a problem I faced teaching at a local public school. They used to have a kiln and it was broken years back and no one really knew what happened to it.

I tested a few brands of air-dry clay this summer and Crayola is by far the winner. When it drys, you can carve it and paint it. DecoArts makes a product called “Triple Thick Glaze” that I love. It gives you an appearance of ceramic. You can’t eat out of it like ceramic art but it makes for some great sculptures.

Take a look at this lesson plan from Dick Blick. They use air dry clay and dowel rods for building totems. This project is versatile and could be customized for nearly any concept. It is not going to be as strong as something made from stoneware but it gives kids a great tactile experience and if you make small items, it offers a great learning opportunity.