Resources for teaching ceramics

I purchased a large container of alphabet pasta for K-2 to get their names on the bottom of their ceramics. I used to incise them myself with a needle tool since this step can be difficult for them, but now they can look for the letters of their name and press them into the clay! The pasta burns off in the kiln and leaves a neat & legible impression!

I also advise getting an underglaze pencil for students who forget to incise their names. I often don't catch this until after they're bisqued and write them in with the underglaze pencil after they glaze to make identifying them easier.

Glazing

This is my set up for glazing bisqued clay. Students can take one little cup at a time to their seat to use.

My glaze tiles are glazed so that they show what 1, 2, and 3 coats of the glaze looks like and one half of it has a clear glossy coat as well (hard to see in photos) to show what a difference it makes so students can decide if they want to do that or not. I don't offer the clear coat for all of the classes though, it depends on the lesson!

I cover the little bottles with trays at the end of the day to avoid putting on/off the caps to every single one every day. Dried glaze does build up on the sides and edge of the bottles, but every so often I bend the bottle and it comes right off in the trash. I do this at the end of the unit as well and save the bottles for the next year!

Also, Mayco's Stroke and Coat (the glazes in the photo) are technically underglazes, but with enough layers, it does get shiny in the kiln! Unlike glazes, the liquid looks similar to what color it will fire to, so I prefer these for younger kids.