Clay Bobble Heads 2019

This is a project I love doing with 5th grade at the end of every school year. It is something students look forward to doing and it covers almost all clay hand building techniques such as coils, pinch pots, slipping and scoring, and slabs for the base. I was able to complete this project in three forty-five minute class periods. The first class period students decide if they would like to make a character, person, or animal for their bobble head. They start by making a pinch pot for the head and then attaching ears, hair, noses, and other accessories. Students can also keep the head smooth and use glaze later to make the face. The second class period students will make the body either starting with a hollowed out cylinder or cone shape. If they want their bobble head to stand up they are required to make a base by cutting a slab into a circle or square and attaching the legs and body to it. The last class period is focused on glazing. I have found that designer liner works great for small details in the face!

After the glaze firing I attach the base to the head by using a spring. I bought an assortment of springs off amazon and I also bought a big bag of them from Ace Hardware. I use hot glue to attach the spring to the body first and pick the right size that will allow the head to hover over the body (it really depends on how deep the pinch pot is and how heavy it is). Once that dries, I put a lot of hot glue inside of the pinch pot and hold the body with the spring upside down in it to allow it to dry so it does not drip or move around. Sometimes I have to take my pliers and start over but if you try to balance the head on the spring before gluing it together, you can usually tell if it is the right size spring or not if the head starts to tilt downwards.