Creative Clay Creatures

As artists we often use our creativity to make art. But what does it mean to be creative? For this art lesson we will explore this question as we use our imaginations to create a creative creature and habitat. 

1st grade artists begin by drawing our creative creatures and talking about the different shapes they use for each body part (ex. The head is a circle, the legs are rectangles). When they begin to sculpt we discuss what forms they can use for each body part (ex. The head is a sphere, the legs are cylinders). To help them with the construction of their creatures I created the handout below that they can reference during class. We also learn how to score, slip, stick, and smooth our clay pieces to ensure that our sculptures stay intact.

This unit has been broken into six 45 minute classes:

Day 1: Artists will use their imagination to sketch ideas for a new creative creature.

Day 2: Artists will use clay techniques to create a creative creature sculpture.

Day 3: Artists will complete and apply texture to their creative creature sculptures.

Day 4: Artists will create a habitat for their creative clay creatures.

Day 5: Artists will paint their creative clay creature sculptures.

Day 6: Artists will complete their creative creature sculptures & habitats.

Download these handouts at my TpT Store:

Inspiration

We will look at several surrealist artists for inspiration including Royal Lacey Scoville, Michelin Hess, Studio Ghibli, Jem Ham, Carla Sonheim, Henry Darger, Remedios Varo, Gyyporama, Leonara Carrington, Konan Lim, Dorothea Tanning, Kayla Mahaffey, Salvador Dali, and Nicoletta Ceccoli. 

Student Art