“Molding humans”
For children 4 to 6 years old.
Notice this seated figurine. Is it a man or a woman? What is he holding? Where is he sitting? The male figurine is made of marble and it provides us with valuable information about daily life in the Cyclades almost five millennia ago.
Create:
The first human form made of clay. Then, make your own collection of moving figurines!
MATERIALS:
- Commercial or natural clay
- A firm working surface
- A cup filled with water
- A wooden skewer, toothpick or pencil
- Toilet paper rolls
- Scissors
PROCESS:
- Take a piece of clay the size of a tennis ball in your hands and mould it in order to soften it.
- To make the head, cut a piece that fits in the palm of your hand and form a ball
- To make the torso, take another piece of the same size and shape it into a thick pretzel.
- For the legs, take a slightly larger piece of clay and create a long and a thin worm.
- Once it’s done, cut it in half.
- Repeat the same process.
- Clay needs water in order to stick.
- Use your finger to add water to one side of the ball and one side of the pretzel and glue them together.
- Next in line are the hands.
- With the aid of your helper, press your finger on the connecting point and add a little more water if necessary.
- Last thing left is the legs.
- With the assistance of your helper, press the connecting points with your finger and add a little more water if necessary.
- Now it’s time to add the clothes and details.
- For the facial features, we can use the skewer and engrave them. We can do the same for the clothes.
- Our human being is ready!
- All that’s left is to give it motion.
- We take a roll and cut it into thick rings and place our human on top of it, so that the figure is fixed and does not fall off.
Design: Despoina Sakellariou, Video: Efthimis Theodossis, Motion Graphics: Efi Siafa, Music by OddVision _Happy Cooking Food. Special thanks to Filippa Fragopoulou.
