Clay & Ceramics K-12 Clay Maintenance: Making Slip & Reclaiming Clay: 4 Parts

This video tutorial and teacher resource is great for beginner teachers or for a refresher for any art teacher, artist, studio manager or students alike. This product is meant for clay that will be fired in a kiln, and not air dry clay. Included in this tutorial are 4 parts: making slip, reclaiming leatherhard clay, reclaiming bone dry clay and reclaiming large chunks of hard clay, as well as a brief overview on wedging clay. The video tutorial walks the viewer through every step, and is fully narrated. Each part breaks down the cycle in which each type of clay will go through, and how to recycle it back into usable clay!

Clay is an amazing resource because unless it is fired you can reuse it over and over again. Reclaiming clay means to recycle. Clay goes through 7 stages and can be recycled until the very last stage. Never throw out “old” clay. Old clay that is hard can be soft clay again. This video tutorial demonstrates to the viewer how to reclaim clay 4 different ways. You’ll need minimal supplies to reclaim clay. No heavy equipment is required for the techniques in this tutorial. 

Safety Tip: Anytime you work with dry clay, silica found in dry clay particles can become airborne. Constant exposure to dry clay dust and silica can lead to silicosis. This is a lung disease caused by inhaling silica over a long period of time. To avoid exposure, wear a respirator or a K/N95 mask while working with dry clay. 

I hope you found this resource to be educational and helpful in your classroom! I take a lot of time and pride in creating resources and products that teachers, students and studio creatives can use for themselves. I enjoy taking all the stress and worry from teachers by developing thoughtful products that can be adapted to any classroom and budget. I remember when I first started teaching how daunting lesson planning, unit planning, budgets, supplies and grading were! I aim to take all those tasks and streamline the process for you. I strive to make each and every product a success. Thank you so much again for your purchase. When you invest in your classroom you invest in your students and their success. I hope you enjoy seeing the beautiful creative results! Please feel free to contact me with any questions at chelsea.ranno@gmail.com

Thank You! 

Chelsea Ranno

Tech tip: I highly recommend downloading all files you purchase from TPT and save it to your Google Drive. I also recommend opening the link using your personal email account. This will save you time and any issues that could arise.

Included in this resource:

• 2 page overview of the importance and benefits of making slip and reclaiming clay
• Supply list for the video tutorial
• Link to the video tutorial
• 2 page teacher questionnaire to organize clay in a classroom
• My TOU agreement