Our first graders are working on "how to" books in their writing workshop. We thought we would take their amazing writing skills and bring it into the art room and apply it to our dinosaur project. Here's one artist's step-by-step guide to creating a dinosaur using clay!
1. Start with a ball of clay.
2. Mush it in your hands to make it soft.
3. Figure out which parts you need to make a dinosaur (like head, body, legs, spikes, tail). Pull off pieces for each.
4. Use the leftover clay to make the body. Roll it into an egg shape. Roll the four leg pieces into equal spheres. Flatten the bottoms by pushing them on the table.
5. Put one finger int he water and rub it on the spot where you want to attach the leg. This mixture is called SLIP and will help it stick.
6. Stick each leg on, using the slip mixture. Use your index finger to mush the clay together so you don't see any cracks.
7. Flip over the body so it is standing on its feet. Pick up the piece of clay for the head and roll it back and forth between your palms until it looks like a snake.
8. Bend the top down like a candy cane so it looks like a dino's head. Flatten the bottom and add slip with your finger.
9. Stick your brontosaurus' neck on and smooth it down with your finger so there are no cracks.
10. Use your final chunk to roll a tail. Roll it between your palms to make a snake. Flatten then other end on the table.
11. Use your slip to stick the tail to the back of the body. Use your fingers to smooth out the cracks.