Leaf Bowls

 

This is an easy and fun project the yields great results. My elementary school students went on a nature walk around campus with me. We felt bark, smelled pine needles, and picked a few large leaves off of the trees or the ground. Then we pressed the backs (veiny side) of the leaves into slabs of clay and traced them with a ceramic needle or knife. The leaf shapes were then placed on upside down metal mixing bowls to help them curve, and we used the score and slip technique to make a foot (either a coil in a ring, or three balls are the easiest). This lifts the leaf bowl off the surface and gives it a little shadow. These can be used for holding soap, earrings, keys, ear buds, or just as a stand alone decoration. I love how in just 30 minutes, my students are getting an interdisciplinary lesson that teaches them about autumn and types of trees, as well as techniques such as rolling a slab and correctly attaching pieces of clay.

Leaf Bowls

Last fall when my art lessons all about leaf projects (see the blog with leaf collages, prints, and ornaments), my older students made leaf bowls. They each made a large slab of clay using the slab roller. Then they pressed the vein side of leaves into the clay and cut out around the edges. It was as easy as making sugar cookies. There were a variety of styrofoam, plastic and stainless steel bowls to use as a mold. Students each chose a bowl, turned it upside down pressed their clay leaves together, texture side out around the the bowl. They added either individual feet or a donut shape of clay for one foot. It ended up being a nice way to marry function and aesthetics in project.