Clay Fossils (K)

So kindergarten's week-long exploration of "texture" began by talking with the kids about what "texture" is (the way that something feels). We looked at a variety of objects (some fuzzy yarn, sandpaper, shells, etc...) and even came up with some cool texture words that we could use to describe how they feel! Then students spent two days doing texture crayon-rubbings and finger painting (see that awesome Lupine lesson here).
Once that project was completed, we moved on and started talking about dinosaurs; what they were, what they looked like, how they went extinct, and finally how their history was preserved (in the form of fossils)! I even found a set of super cute videos which helped explain it to my kinders!
We talked all about how even though we can't see dinosaurs around us anymore, they did leave us clues in the form of fossils to learn more about them and how they may have looked!
After watching the videos and having a discussion all about dinos, students spent the rest of class drawing up some awesome pictures of their very own dinosaurs.
**Now before I even begin explaining the rest of the lesson... I have to give a shout-out to Mollie at Art with Ms. K for the idea for this clay project!
The next day each student got a piece of clay. We rolled our clay into a ball using the palms of our hands and then pressed them down onto our canvas to flatten it like a pancake!
Students carved their initials onto the backside, then used a variety of shells and small plastic dinosaur toys to leave some texture to make their very own clay fossils!
The way my schedule is set up, I see the same group of students everyday for a week straight and then rotate to the next group of classes. Obviously the clay had to set out to dry and them finally be bisque-fired.. so students had to wait until their next rotation of art with me to finish them up (and since I have 7 kindergarten classes.. that means waiting nearly 7 weeks!!). Needless to say.. this post has been a long time coming. haha
Just this past week I had my first kindergarten group finish their fossils. To finish them up my kinders just sponged on some brown tempera paint. :)

1 comment

  1. These came out great! Thanks for the shout out!

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