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Home > Arts and Crafts Projects > Clay > Making Clay Coil Pots
Making clay coil pots is a great first-timer clay project. This is a great project for youner children, such as preschoolers, Kindergarteners, as well as older grades as well. These are pretty easy to make and can be made pretty quickly. Find out how to make coil pots below...
1.Water-based clay (oil base clay does not dry out and cannot be fired and glazed or painted)
2. Orange stick or other modeling tool
3. Container for mixing slip
1. Knead (wedge) the clay well to remove the air bubbles and to make it more pliable.
2. Build the base of the pot using one of the two following methods.
a1.Roll a ball of clay back and forth on a table top to form a "snake" of clay of approximately 1/2" thickness.
a2. Lay the "snake" on a table top and coil it into a spiral shaped wheel until the desired diameter is obtained.
a3. Smooth out the coils of the "snake" (on both sides--top and bottom) with the fingers or a modeling tool. Make a smooth surface in which all traces of the coil have disappeared.
or
b1. Press and flatten a ball of clay to a flat wheel of about 1/2" thickness.
b2. Trim the edges of the clay wheel so that it is round and of the desired diameter.
3. As described above, roll out "snakes" of clay of about 1/2" thickness.
4. Make a clay slip--slip is clay which has been thinned with water until it is creamy and liquid.
5. Cross-hatch (scratch) the outer 1/2" of the top surface of your wheel of clay (base of the pot) and apply slip to this scratched surface. (The slip will help the clay coils to firmly adhere to each other and to the base.)
6. Lay a coil ("snake") of clay around the edge of the base on top of the slip and gently press it into place as you go.
7. This coil is now firmly attached to the base by pressing and smoothing together the edge of the coil and the edge of the base with the fingers or a modeling tool. This is done on both the inside and on the outside of the pot.
8. Cross-hatch (scratch) the top surface of the first coil, and apply slip. Add a second coil and smooth the two coils together both inside and out.
9. Continue this process until the desired height and shape is obtained The diameter of the coils may be gradually increased or lessened to gradually increase or diminish the diameter of the pot.
10. A simple decorative border may be pressed into the wet clay with a modeling tool or other instrument.
11. Allow the clay to dry at room temperature.
NOTE: Unfinished pots may be kept damp from day to day by covering them with damp cloths and then with oil cloth or a plastic bag.