Easy Pinch Pot DIY – Clay for Beginners

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So Pip Squeak came home from school recently with a pinch pot in her hands. SHE LOVED MAKING  IT!!! And asked if she could make another STRAIGHT AWAY. So I thought, why not – we have clay and pinch pots (also kown as Thumb Pots) really are super easy and fun to make. This joins our collection of fantastic Air Drying Clay Projects for Kids! First we discovered that our air drying clay had gotten REALLY hard ad it was super frustrating for her to work with this hard air drying clay. So I decided I need to do a quick softening of the clay – it is actually really easy to do – but you do need a day – so plan ahead (video shared below)… and then a couple days later we FINALLY got around to making our Pinch Pots. As Autumn is just around the corner, Pip Squeak made a Hedgehog pinch pot, I made a Monster Pinch Pot for Halloween… Red Ted decided to make a Love Heart Monster (mmmh that is probably for Valentine’s Day.. ) and then we also have a random turtle addition.. well why not?! (If need be find out how to soften hardened air-dry clay here).

Wonderful Clay Pinch Pot DIY - a great way of intrducing kids to working with clay.We made great Pinch Pot designs for Fall and Halloween!

We also have a super cute easy Apple Pinch Pots version too – the kids will love this easy Autumn craft!

monster pinch pots - a super easy and fun diy for kids learning to use clay

Pinch Pot DIY – materials needed:

  • air drying clay
  • parchment paper (for drying)
  • wire (for removing off table)
  • acrylic paints OR ordinary paints with PVA glue added

Pinch Pot DIY – How To:

I share a video of how to make the Monster Pinch Pot here… you can watch that or follow the written and photo instructions below. I have also included a video on how to soften hard Air Drying Clay because I think it is super  helpful!!

Please note: I got the clay a bit too soggy in this video!! Let it dry out for 10-15min before you start working and it should be fine (and a cold day, leave it out for 30min!).

How to soften hard air drying clay easily:

How to make Thumb Pots (written instructions).

  1. Begin with a good blob of clay. We like enough that fits nicely into  a pair of cup hands. We like to knead the dough a little first to make sure it is smooth throughout and any air pockets squished out.
  2. Form a ball.
  3. Then indenting your thumbs, start squishing it into a bowl. Yes, it really is that easy.
    how to make easy clay thumb pots - a great beginner's clay project!
  4. Red Ted quickly decided he wanted to shape his pinch pot into a heart.

How to make easy clay thumb pots - a great beginner's clay project!

5. Once you have you basic shape sorted you can add things like heads, eyes, legs or arms. Remember to connect your pieces of clay by cross hatching the connecting surfaces and then also smoothing down the sides of the connecting pieces. If the clay breaks during drying it is very hard to fix.

6. Let your creations dry fully.

how to make easy clay pinch pots - a great beginner's clay project!

7. Then paint the thumb pot with acrylic paints. Pip Squeak gets VERY excited at this point and wants to make sure you know you can use ordinary paint mixed with PVA glue!

Pinch Pots or Thumb Pots - super fun clay project for kids - we loved making Monster Pinch Pots, Love Monsters Bowls a Turtle and Hedgehog

And finished! Aren’t these simply fabulous DIY Pinch Pots? Such a great easy Beginner’s Clay craft for kids. One you can do with all age groups!! Have fun making Thumb Pots!!!

See more great Air Drying Clay Projects for Kids here: