Six Invaluable Clay Tools You Should Have!

I taught one clay lesson, to one grade, during my first four years of teaching because I didn’t have the resources/supplies, a kiln, the funds, and the support. Moving to a school with those resources/supplies, a kiln, the funds, and the support was a major adjustment for me. I hadn’t touched a kiln, ever. The TA in college took care of filling and firing the walk in kiln and for that one lesson I had to drive my clay over to an obliging county colleague’s school. My helpful LS art colleague showed me how to run my new-to-me responsibility when I first started at my current school. In those years since, I have learned a lot about running a clay program for my tiny humans. Here are items that have become invaluable to my clay program.

SOLID WOOD TOOLS:
I’ve used plastic tools in the past and they do not last long in the hands of even my tiniest of tinies. Accumulate sets slowly if necessary. My students sit at four tables and each table shares a box of supplies so I ordered a set for every table and an extra set for me. The extra set comes in handy when I’m demonstrating or working at my clay station in the back of the classroom. I don’t have to pull from anyone’s box and they can keep chugging along.

MARINE VINYL MATS:
This idea also came courtesy of my former LS art colleague. She recommended buying yards of marine vinyl from a fabric store, cutting them into mats, and using those at student’s seats. She would cut hers to squares, but I found it saved time and space to leave them as rectangles. My tiny humans have no problem sharing the elbow room and clean up is a lot faster. They wipe down with a wet sponge and will last for YEARS!

METAL SCORING TOOLS:
These took time to invest in- trial and error as opposed to budget constraints- and I have never regretted it. I know some teachers can guide their students to use small toothpicks and the like to score pieces but I found that my tiny humans didn’t have the same level of coordination, strength, or success as older students. Boom! The real deal solves that problem. I have one for every student, plus a few extras, and keep them in their supply box.

TALENTI GELATO JARS
Who knew gelato would be such a time saver?! I used to keep a bucket of slip and distribute into bowls for each class. It was inefficient, messy, spill-able, and just a miserable experience for me. These gems came into my life and I was forever grateful. I keep them on the shelf next to the clay tool boxes so my table captain can help me pass them out for projects that require slip. They clean up easily and it takes a long time for them to dry out so I don’t have to waste too much time on that front either.

RANDOM ART AND KITCHEN TOOLS:
In addition to the wood clay tool sets I throw in their tool boxes scratch art sticks, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and forks. Everything can be used to make texture and details and it helps give the tiny humans a lot of choice in what to use on their projects.

FOAM INSULATION BOARD:
These come as larger sheets from big box home improvement stores. They are light, wipeable, and last forever. Tiny humans aren’t often allowed in my kiln room so I’ll set out a tray or two for them to put their glazed or their greenware pieces on. My tables don’t get messy, it’s easy to move them around if needed, and they’re sturdy enough to hold a lot at one time.

Did I miss anything that you find invaluable? What are your must haves? Happy making!