Teaching Artist Preparation

Video Resources

WonderKids Project Video 

What is Talavera? (view painting at 3:04)

Traditional Talavera (view painting at 0:46)

Painting examples

Provoking Questions

What is recycling?

This is the word used most to talk about taking an old product, like an empty glass bottle, breaking it down, and then making something of similar or lower quality. This has to be done by big manufacturing machines in recycling plants. But you can do something similar at home. 

What is upcycling?

This is something that anyone can do with any object that might look worn out, but with a little imagination and creativity, you can make it into something new and useful again. Taking unused stuff and making it good-looking and useful again, instead of throwing it away or recycling it, can be something as simple as taking your old shoes and turning them into pots for your plants. But the thing you make doesn’t have to be completely different from the object’s original purpose. You can clean it up and make it look good so that you want to continue using it for a long time.

What things around your house can you think of that look worn out and that might get thrown away soon, or just not be used anymore? What can you imagine you could do to them or with them to keep using them and not throw them out?

Materials

• A varied assortment of clay pots in different sizes.

• Terracotta pot sealer spray

• Repurposed mugs & Candle holders

• A collection of acrylic paints and brushes

• Masking tape

• Stencils

• Pencils

• Black sharpies

• Water containers 

• Paper towels or sponges

• Newspaper and/ or drop cloths

• Plastic bags and bread bag ties

• Potting Soil

• A scoop for the potting soil

• A rooted plant, ready to be potted

• Water to pour into the the soil

Preparation

Off-site preparation

• Clean the terracotta and spray the inside and outside of the pots

• Prepare the outside of the pots by painting them in a couple different colors: spray the outside of some with the terracotta spray, paint some light blue, and some white. Use acrylic paint 

• Collect some images of the terracotta designs, watch the videos, and practice asking the provoking questions. Think about the conversation you will have with the kids before you introduce the activity. 

On-Site set up

• Create a demo station that is away from the workstations for the kids. Have the kids sit in a circle at the demo station to begin, to facilitate conversation and exploration

• Cover your work stations with newspaper or a drop cloth to protect the tables

• If you have easy access to water, put the water containers next to the sink so that kids can get their own water. If not, set out water for rinsing paint brushes

• Set out paint brushes, and pallets with the acrylic colors on them

• Welcome each child as they come into the room, and invite them to come sit at the demonstration station to start

• Set up a drying station where the pots can safely dry after they are painted

Direct instruction

1. Show the kids an old terracotta pot, and an upcycled pot. Pass the pots around, and let them feel them and look at them

2. Ask the provoking questions, and have a conversation about what other things they can think of that they could upcycle

3. Introduce the concept of Talavera pottery, and that it comes from very far away. In the united states, we could go to a store and buy a pot that looks like Talavera, but it still wouldn’t be real Talavera, because only the real thing is made in Puebla, Mexico, using very special ingredients. So, instead of buying something that isn’t the real thing, we can make one ourselves!

4. Demonstrate for the kids how to tape the stencil onto the pot, and trace it with a pencil. 

5. Tell them that they could use a stencil if they want to, or they could draw their own design, or they can free paint.

6. Show them how to carefully paint inside the lines to make the designs from the stencil. 

7. Show them how to rise their paint brush between colors so that they don’t make the pallet muddy, and how to dry it on the paper towel or the sponge so that the paint isn’t too wet and runs when they paint on the pots.

8. After the demonstration, before they begin to fill water cups or go to their stations, have everyone put on a smock! 

9. Have each child pick out a pot that they want to paint. 

10. Write their name on the bottom of the pot in sharpie

11. Fill water cups, pick stencils, and begin creating the pots. 

12. Place the painted pot on the drying surface

Early Finisher Project

Kids who finish early can plant their own plant into a plastic bag. An adult should be at the table to help them scoop the soil into the bag, pour water into the soil, place the plant in the wet soil, and then use a bread tie to close the plastic bag securely around the base of the plant. Kids can put their plant into their pot so that they don’t lose it for next week. The pots will be transported home next week with the dirt and plant still in the bag so that it doesn’t spill on the way home!

Clean up

• Kids should thoroughly clean their own brushes, and dump out and clean their water containers. 

• Put the brushes and water containers back in the correct place (tell them where that is)

• Look for any paint that has gotten on tables, chairs, or the floor, and use a sponge to clean it up right away

• Put smocks back in the bin

• Roll up the newspaper. Dry newspaper can go in the recycling bin. 

• Wet newspapers must go in the trash. Use this opportunity to explain to kids that when paper gets wet, it can’t be recycled. 

• Sweep up the early finisher project, and put away extra plants and plastic bags. 

Differentiation/ Modifications

• Children can choose to use the stencils, or free draw their own design, or free paint onto the pot. 

• Depending on the interests and abilities of the kids, the teacher may decide to allow the kids to choose between painting the pot and decoupaging the pot, if the teacher is experienced with decoupage. Here is a thorough overview of decoupage, but we would use different materials. We would use the clay pot, magazine cut outs or tissue paper, and watered down Elmer's glue, and we would let the pots air dry, not dry them in an oven.