Pretend Porcelain

Pretend Porcelain lesson plan

What kinds of designs have you seen on dinner plates, teapots, and vases? Porcelain is just one of many Chinese inventions.

  • 1.

    Many items we use everyday were invented in China centuries ago. Find out how porcelain has been made for more than 2000 years. You will find that it traditionally is decorated with blue and white designs of bridges, tea houses, boats, and willow trees.

  • 2.

    Use Crayola® Air-Dry Clay to make decorative replicas of Chinese dinnerware to show what you are learning about Chinese history, inventions, and traditional designs. Working on a clean dry surface, roll a ball of clay. Then decide what you want to sculpt—perhaps a plate, bowl, or teapot. If you change your mind, add a little water and start again!

  • 3.

    Plate. Flatten the ball. Use a craft stick to cut out a plate. Pinch the outside edge with your fingers to create a rim.

  • 4.

    Bowl, vase, teapot, or cups. Push your thumb into the middle of a clay ball. Keep your pointer finger on the outside. Pinch and shape until you have a pleasing form. Make handles or a spout by rolling small snake-like shapes. Scratch the pot surface with a craft stick. Slightly dampen the area with your finger to attach a handle or spout. Roll out and cut a lid to fit.

  • 5.

    Smooth the surfaces with damp fingers. Air-dry your pretend porcelain for 2 to 5 days.

  • 6.

    Cover your art area with paper. Decorate your sculptures in traditional Chinese blue designs with Crayola Tempera Paints and Brushes. Air-dry the paint before you prepare a display showing these and other Chinese inventions.

Benefits

  • Students research the invention and decoration of Chinese porcelain.
  • Children develop their fine-motor and aesthetic skills by working with clay.
  • Students sculpt and decorate replicas of Chinese porcelain shapes and patterns.

Adaptations

  • Children with special needs might create pinch pots. To make plate circles, suggest they use a plastic plate to cut around.
  • Try painting by dripping a few colors of tempera on the piece. Swirl it with cotton swabs or large paint brushes.
  • Study various types of pottery decoration and glazes. Visit local potters to see how pottery is sculpted, fired, and decorated.
  • Study Chinese exports to the United States in the 17th to 19th centuries.
  • New Englanders eagerly awaited shipments of Chinese porcelain. What other countries imported Chinese porcelain? What trade routes did the Chinese take to deliver their goods?
  • Assessment: Note whether the shapes of the pottery are similar to Chinese work. Determine whether the decorative designs are reminiscent of authentic pieces.