Deep Learning PAINT AND CLAY

Where to buy clay and paint Clay and bulk paint can be purchased locally or from: (order Or Freephone

The clay used in these slides is air dried One bag of 20kg is enough for a class of 25.

This activity is useful for revision at the end of a topic. Students are asked to make something relating to WW11. Other ideas are the ‘Martin Luther King Memorial’ or ‘Memories of Gandhi’ etc All you need is newspaper and some water to help mould the clay.

To begin make it clear that the last five minutes is for tidying up and this is part of the activity. Students can help themselves or the teacher can distribute the clay. A chunk of clay slightly larger than a fist is usually enough.

Most students will take more than one period to complete their model. Keep the incomplete models on a bench or table and cover them with wet newspaper if it is for overnight. If it is longer then cut up plastic bags and cover the wet newspaper.

Students can then paint their model. Painting the clay when it is wet is OK.

Paint can be bought locally or from School Supplies. Keeping control of paint can be difficult. Here are some ideas that may help.

Decant some of the paint from the large 2 litre bottles into smaller containers. Recycled supermarket containers work well. Cut up an old cardboard box into smaller squares about the size of a hand. Put a teaspoon of each colour onto the cardboard. This is the pallette. The teacher should be the only person to distribute paint.

Leave 5 minutes to tidy up. If there is paint left on the pallette scrape it back into the pottle. Throw empty cardboard pallettes and newspaper into the bin. Each student washes their own brush.

Students select a brush and pallette and put newspaper over the desk. Where applicable students should share pallettes. Students who need more paint must get it from the teacher. It is when the students help themselves that the system breaks down and there is wastage and mess.

Completed models can be left to dry and put on display.

This offers an opportunity for more kinesthetic students to engage with the topic. This activity is good for end of term/topic It is also a good time to talk to students on an individual basis.