Living Thing Teapots

This may be my all-time favorite 3rd grade project!  The project starts off with plane tickets and a plane ride to Japan, which is just all the stools lined up like the seats on a plane.  The kids even get an in-flight meal of seaweed and Japanese candy!  There may also be some turbulence, but only if the kids are behaving well.  Once we land, we get in our 'bus' in front of the projector to watch a presentation on Japanese culture and beliefs.  It's our own tour!  When the tour is over, the kids get to check into their 'hotels', or their tables, where various Japanese phrases are printed.  They get a few minutes to practice writing before class is over.

The unit consists of Sumi-e painting, printmaking, origami and constructing teapots. 

For the teapot lesson, students learn all about the tea ceremony and the importance of tea and the teapot to Japanese culture.  They are told that they get to make their own teapots, to which they freak out!  Anything with clay and they are HAPPY!  But, their creative challenge to the teapots is to make them to resemble something living, animal or plant.

They get plenty of time to brainstorm, build a clay reference book and practice several hand building techniques before deciding on what to make and which technique fits best with their design.  Here are just a few of the amazing results.  I LOVE that each one looks completely different from the next.  I even saw baseball players, aliens, dragons, unicorns, flowers, and even one of me!