Teachers will find any excuse to get their students to read. This month, with the help of Sculpey clays, we are making Bootiful Bookmarks to get us all motivated to read in class and at home.
The students who ranged in age from 10-12 years of age were so excited to create and use their imagination! Before starting our hands-on activity, we talked about the benefits of working with clay and our little hands. Working with clay, our hands and our imaginations increases our fine motor skills which helps us with our pencil grasp to do our schoolwork. It also helps us disconnect from everyday school tasks and engage our senses when we touch (and even smell) the clay. (We had many volunteer to taste, but this teacher did not encourage that specific sense!)
The students were given a choice of 2-inch by 2-inch pieces of different clay (Fall) colors to use to make the base of the bookmarks and were given freedom to make them any shape using a variety of our cutting and shaping tools. This teacher demonstrated different ideas such as making polka dots, long snake-like shapes, and how to make an easy pumpkin and Fall leaves.
In the end, the bookmarks turned out AMAZING! They all had different levels of skills and helped each other create their own designs! Some students even rolled out clay to design their bookmarks with their name. These students were just as happy to use their new book accessories when they came out of the oven and were cooled off enough to place in their library books.
We are already planning our Sculpey project for next month! Project design and written by Cynthia Gonzalez
