Delicate Place Card Holders

1. Porcelain clay is a beautiful white clay whose use was first developed in China. Delicate tableware and sculptures and strong electrical insulators and laboratory equipment are made with clay. Porcelain has two natural parts: kaolin (a pure white clay that is a byproduct of feldspar) and petuntse (a kaolin found only in China). Students research the long history of porcelain in China.
2. To recreate the look and feel of porcelain, try easy-to-use Crayola® Air-Dry Clay. For example, make small sculptures, such as place card holders for meals with guests. Sculpt on a clean, dry surface.
3. For each holder, form flower petals with small ovals of clay. Press several petals of various sizes together to form each flower. Bunch several flowers into a small bouquet. Add leaves to the base. If the clay starts to dry, just add a bit of water.
4. On a small ball of clay, press a flat bottom. Press your flowers onto this base. Use a note card to make an angled indentation for a place card. Air-dry for at least 3 days.
5. Cover the art area with recycled newspaper. Paint the card holder with Crayola Watercolors. Use as many coats as needed to achieve a delicate, porcelain-like effect. Air-dry the paint between coats.
6. Cut construction paper place cards with Crayola Scissors. Write each person’s name in fancy letters with Crayola Markers. What a beautiful way to celebrate a meal with family or friends.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts independently and proficiently.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

SS: Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of their ideas.

VA: Describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts.

Students research the geology of China and determine the factors that allow for both kaolin and petuntse. Using a student-drawn map of the region, students identify locations where both are found.

Students research the porcelain artifacts identified from specific Chinese dynasty. What characteristics are specific to that dynasty? Organize photographs of these artifacts into an electronic presentation for classmates.

If possible, organize a field trip to a museum displaying artifacts of Chinese porcelain. Upon returning, students post learning to a class blog.

Invite a potter to visit the class for discussion of the pottery process as well as a demonstration of the method, if possible. Prior to the visit, students compose questions for the expert. After the visit, students post learning to a class blog.

Individually, students can explore the various traditional china objects and the imagery used in those objects. Students assemble a personal collage which includes these images. Students write a 5-8 sentence paragraph explaining the artworks included and why these were selected.