CLAY FISH SCULPTURES make an easy intro to sculpting skills or a review of using clay. Simple directions give students lots of leeway to make their fish unique. The Fish Sculptures can be used in as a STEAM CLAY ART LESSON. Crayola Air Dry Clay is my go clay to for this project, but this lesson can be done with Crayola Model Magic, Sculpey Polymer Clay or even stoneware clay.
CLAY FISH SCULPTURES can be varied for Grade K-8. Keep it super simple for the little ones or get really intricate with designs and patterns for the upper grades. I’ve done this clay art lesson with the full span of grade levels using model magic for kinder and first grade and using Crayola Air Dry Clay for all the other grades.
This is a 2 part project. It takes a few days for the clay to dry before painting.
Glueing the Fish Sculptures to a piece of CHIPBOARD or cardboard makes it easy to display in class or for an art show. Once our sculptures are dry, I hand them back with the cut piece of CHIPBOARD and I put a swirl of glue on the back of the FISH SCULPTURE (tacky glue works best, but Elmer’s glue will do the trick too). I let the students stick it on. Then we carefully paint. You can also paint the background and the fish separately and then, glue them together.
MATERIALS
Crayola Air Dry Clay, paper plate, tooth pick, Chipboard or cardboard, Acrylic Paint, brushes, water cup, paper towel.
DIRECTIONS
Using CRAYOLA AIR DRY CLAY, each student gets a block of clay (about 2-3 square inch). I give them each a paper plate to make their sculpture on. They can write their name on the plate for storing the fish while they dry. They can even be stacked on top one another.
Use half the block for the body and half for the fins, eyes, lips, etc.
Roll half the clay to a ball or oval and flatten with the palm of your hand. Each piece of the fish should be at least a quarter inch thick to keep it from breaking. Anything thinner than that will be too fragile once dry.
The other half of clay can be divided in half. Half can be used to make the pieces for the tail fins, side fin and top fin. The remaining half can be used for the gill, eye and lips.
With the air dry clay its so important to score each piece you are connecting to the fish body. Score using a tooth pick or sculpting tool. Create a criss-cross marking with the toothpick on each part that will connect. Dip your finger in water and add a few water drops on to the scored area, and then attach the pieces together. Gently use a finger to secure the attached parts.
Crayola Air Dry Clay takes a days or 2 to dry. I store them on a small paper plates. They can be stacked and students can write their names on the paper plates with their fish sculpture on it.
Once dry, glue the dry clay fish sculptures down to the card board. Tacky glue or Elmer’s glue work well. Paint the snail and with acrylic or tempera paint.
VARITATIONS
Fish sculptures clay art lesson can be also be done with: Crayola Model Magic, Sculpey Polymer Clay or Stoneware Clay will work for this art lesson. Follow individual package directions, each one is different.
NEW VARIATION!!! STEAM ART LESSON WITH NEON PAINTS AND BLACKLIGHTS TO MAKE THEM GLOW. SUPER FUN BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT OR ART SHOW DISPLAY!
My Middle School STEAM Class, used NEON PAINTS and NEON CRAYOLA OIL PASTELS and then used a BLACKLIGHT in the classroom to display them. UV LED Blacklights can be found on Amazon.
MORE SCULPTING LESSONS
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