Kids Art Project - Clay Piggy Bank

This is a video I made to show my elementary art students how to sculpt a ceramic piggy bank. I have generally gotten good results doing this project with my upper elementary students (4th and 5th grade). I teach them how to make a hollow form using two pinch pots. Next students decorate it adding arms and legs, ears, snout etc. As a final step, we cut into the sculpture. We cut out a coin slot. It is important to remember that the clay shrinks a little as it dries out, so students should make the coin slot a little extra big. We also cut the piggy bank in two so that it can later be opened up and one can get the coins out without smashing the bank. I tell students to cut a wavy or zig zag line so it will be easy to tell how the two pieces fit together. That will also help prevent the top from sliding off later. We put a paper towel in between the two pieces as they dry so that the two parts can dry (and shrink) together without getting stuck together. I encourage my students to think beyond the pig form and have seen wonderful penguin banks, bear banks, even monster banks. I hope you enjoy and as usual I kept this video silent so it can be viewed in a classroom without disrupting others.