These exciting 'Sculpting Vases' lessons, with plenty of hands-on activities, are designed to equip the children in your class with a greater mastery over modelling clay. Starting by exploring a range of different everyday containers made from different materials and leading onto examining the vases of artists and craftspeople, this scheme of work then allows children to develop control over a range of tools and techniques. Your class will also have the chance to experiment with plasticine before designing, creating and evaluating their own artistic vases.

This series of 6 ready-to-teach lessons provides everything you need to deliver your 'Sculpting Vases' art lessons in an exciting and engaging way, including lesson plans, slides, activity ideas, differentiated worksheets and more.

Historical Vases

This first lesson gives your class the chance to think about vases in more detail, before examining their materials, components and uses. They will then look at historical vases and their designs, exploring and sketching different features they see.

Vase Designers

During this lesson your class will examine vases designed by a variety artists and craftspeople. Your class will discuss some of the techniques used by artists when creating different types of vases, before using the designs as inspiration for their own vases.

Practise Vases

This hands-on lesson gives your class the chance to practise some different techniques when working with modelling materials and provides helpful step-by-step photos to give them some starting ideas as the basis for their own work. They will consider how they can manipulate plasticine into different shapes and how they can add decorative features, such as plaits, imprints and other embellishments, in preparation for their work with clay.

Clay Day!

Now that your class have designed their vases and practised manipulating modelling materials, it's time to create their masterpieces! Your class will think carefully about how they will go about making their vases, considering how they will deal with problems or difficulties that arise, before using clay to create the basis of their final vase. There is also the option of replicating some vases from pictures if children haven't designed a vase beforehand.

Decorations!

This is the lesson where your class will add the finishing touches to their vase masterpieces. They will think about their original designs and the effect they were trying to create, after looking at some examples of beautifully decorated vases to inspire them. They will then decorate their vases using different materials, tools and techniques to create effects.

The Evaluation

Now that your class have successfully completed their finished clay vases, they have the opportunity to reflect on the designing and creating process and to evaluate their finished works of art.