In Clay Lab for Kids, art teacher and winner of the Netflix bake-off show Nailed It! Cassie Stephens presents 52 hands-on projects made with kid-friendly clays that get kids working creatively and thinking three-dimensionally.
Squishy, colorful, and infinitely shapable, clay just might be the most versatile art material for kids. Author-artist-teacher Cassie Stephens has created all-new clay projects for kids of all skill levels. Start with the basics of rolling, coiling, and pinching pots, and move up to making "Jurassic fossils," animal marionettes, monster magnets, and boxes with secret compartments.
All of the projects use kid-friendly, no-kiln clay (air-dry, homemade, and polymer) and water-based paints, perfect for home and classroom, plus there's an entire chapter of recipes for mixing up inexpensive homemade clays in the kitchen.
When creating with clay, kids are introduced to a wide range of cognitive and manual skills: they'll work three-dimensionally; make figurative models; use their imaginations in making jewelry and toys; design with color; and decorate with paints.
The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, bugs, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.
We live in a time when strapped school systems, already cut to the bone, have to make the impossible decisions about 'what has to go'. It's tragic that all too often the first thing to be cut are the arts and art education. So we have generations of stressed unhappy kids who are still not learning to love education and the educational process, still struggling with math and science, and who aren't lifelong lovers of reading either.
I really believe (as a product of an education which included music, dance, and visual and creative arts) that arts are vital to a quality education.
This book is a great collection of 'labs' - projects for young artists to grow and experiment and build up techniques with a bunch of different types of clay. The emphasis is on allowing kids gently guided access and letting them create. The author is an art educator and artist and has so much valuable advice. (Don't take over for the young artist and 'correct' their project, their projects won't always look like the things in the book - and that's as it should be! etc)
The 52 projects are very well photographed and the tutorials support the artistic process. The techniques, from pinch pots to coil pressed pots, to polymer clay are basic methods for building a good basic working knowledge of clay (in various forms) and the strengths and weaknesses of the different media. The projects are arranged in units with related themes. Unit 1 introduces basic concepts and is mostly slanted to the educator/parent/facilitator. Unit 2 deals with air-drying clays and basic techniques. Unit 3 deals with sculpture (including a project for a marionette that is -really- cool). Unit 4 deals with polymer clay and how it behaves including a segment on color mixing. Unit 5 is more sculpture with poly-clay. Unit 6 - making your own clay and further exploration.
The book includes a useful resource guide with further reading and online resources.
There is so much fun in this book.
Heartily recommended!
Five stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
