Pinch Pots 

Maria Martinez was a Native American known around the world for her pottery. 

We learned a little about Maria in class and learned about a technique that she used to make her pinch pots. 

Out of air dry clay, I rolled out a ball. I stuck my finger in the middle of the ball and started making a bowl-like object. I kept shaping it until I had my vase. I then too the left overs and created a little bowl for my vase to sit on. 

After the pots completely dried, I painted it with acrylic paint so I would have a little shine to the paint. 

I decided to make a little vase because I thought it would be fun to have a homemade vase sitting on my desk with some of my dried flowers in it. 

Air dry clay would be great for the classroom because it allows students to get their hands dirty and learn a little bit about clay, yet it does not have as great of risk of breaking because it will not be put through the kiln.

A Tutorial for this project can be found here.