Tip #72: Popular Pyramid Project from Kids 'N Clay
Ceramics Studio
Kevin Nierman has been teaching clay to children since 1988 out of his studio in Berkeley, Kids 'N' Clay Studio. You may recognize Kevin's name from his book "The Kids 'N' Clay Ceramics Book" which has handbuilding and wheel projects for kids.
In the forward to this book, Kevin writes "My job is to help kids express themselves, so they can find their own creative paths. There is something very magical about children when they are thinking and working creatively. As a children's ceramics teacher and owner of Kids 'N' Clay Pottery Studio, I witness this creative transformation every day. Clay is a wonderful, tactile medium that many kids have never
experienced before. Its three-dimensional nature forces them to think about structure, shapes and forms. They can experiment with a variety of building techniques, while learning to think through their ideas and to adapt to change along the way. Once children learn to express and execute their personal visions in clay, they can become empowered in ways that go far beyond the walls of their ceramic studio or a classroom."
And now a Kids 'N' Clay Ceramics Studio may be coming to a town near you! Kevin explains his decision to
franchise the studios:
"I started Kids N Clay 18 years ago (in Berkeley, CA) and have been getting so many calls from around the country asking about a Kids 'N' Clay in their area - that we decided to fulfill the requests by teaching others to do what we do here in Berkeley. My mission is to get as many kids' hands muddy as is possible!!
Clay is such a wonderful medium for children (big kids too!) to express their
creativity.
A Kids 'N' Clay franchisee doesn't have to know about clay (we can teach them that part) but they do have to LOVE working with kids, they must like being creative ... and have a strong desire to serve their community. It's a wonderful life!!"
Read more about the franchises. See if one is coming to your
town, or maybe you or someone you know is interested in a new career!
http://www.kidsnclay.com/FranchiseInformation.asp
BUIDING PYRAMICS
Kevin has supplied us with a sample project which kids seems to really
enjoy. Click this link to open the file in pdf format. If you
don't have the Adobe program to read pdf's you can download
it here.
