Pottery can be a great tool when working with children, seniors or special
needs groups. It is an art that most anyone can easily get the hang of and the
calming and disciplined nature of making pottery can be therapeutic to many
individuals. If you want to establish pottery programs for your school, church,
community or senior center, or any similar group there is a simple list of
supplies you will need to get your group fully equipped. After getting the
logistics of the program in place you can stock your studio space with minimal
investment and effort depending on what type of pottery you intend to focus on.
Although not comprehensive, these are a few of the basics that will get you up
and running and can accommodate most any budget.
First and foremost you are going to need the clay. Seems simple enough. But
there are many varieties available and depending on the group you are working
with and the types of projects you will be doing, you want to make sure you
have the right clay and plenty of it. If your program intends to be a little
more advanced you might chose ceramic clay bodies to stock your clay supply.
This would allow your students to create vases, bowls, urns and much more. For
a beginning group modeling clays or polymer clays would be more appropriate.
These are forgiving and versatile clays that even someone with physical
challenges or no clay experience can easily work with and create jewelry, knick
knacks, simple pottery and more.
Once you have decided on your clay you will want to make sure you have the
tools your students will need to create their works of art. Potter's wheels are
not always necessary and can be omitted depending on your budget and what you
intend to have your students produce. More basic tools such as rolling pins,
molds, and a myriad of kitchen utensils will get the job done for both polymer
and modeling clays.
Depending on which clay your selected you may need a kiln. If you are
focusing on ceramic clays some sort of kiln, whether a small table top model or
a full blown professional one will be necessary. Polymer clays however do not
require a kiln. A conventional oven or counter top toaster oven will bake these
clays fine. The least expensive option is self-hardening clays which, as the
name implies, do not require any equipment to finish the clay as it hardens on
its own.
The exact tools you will need to establish a pottery program is dependent on
what you wish to accomplish and the types of students. These guidelines should
help you set up the basics for any program by focusing your shopping and
thereby staying within budget.
For further information on instituting your own pottery programs an excellent resource is http://www.amaco.com - the
website of The American Art Clay Company. They not only sell everything you
will need including clay bodies in ceramic to self-hardening clays and kilns,
they also have page after page of ideas and information to help you at every
stage of your program. Bookmark their site and refer to it often and you are
sure to have a successful pottery program.
