Parents + Tots both enjoy their own immersive pottery experience; separate projects, shared connection and creativity.
Muddy Buddies is best for toddlers + pre-school aged kids.
We will have juice boxes, tea, fresh fruit/veg and cookies for snacks for everyone to help themselves to or take as they leave! I suggest bringing a water bottle, trimming long nails, tying up long hair, and wearing clothes & shoes that can get messy!
Inquire via email if you have any questions.
Each participant will go home with about 4-5 pieces of one-of-a-kind, functional, food safe & dishwasher safe pottery!** inspiration photos come from the last crew of kids I hosted, aged 6-12
Class size is kept small ( a maximum of 8 people; only 4 Parents + 4 Tots). This workshop is hosted at my home pottery studio. Full address and details will be provided upon registration.
During our five sessions together, Parents will cover all of the fundamentals for both hand building and wheel throwing, spending our final workshop to explore the endless possibilities with different glazing and surface decoration techniques!
Tots will be primarily focused on sensory play and age appropriate hand building and sculpting projects - Tots will JOIN their Parent for some bonding time on the pottery wheel - creating memories that last! Your Tots will have supervision, guidance, and most importantly; plenty of freedom to explore, create, get messy, and play.
In Hand Building (Sessions 1 + 2) we will cover...
- Slab Built Pottery - using flat slabs of clay and templates to make flower vases, mugs, or a project of your choice.
- Pinch Pots - taking a ball of clay and molding/pinching it into a bowl, ring dish, spoon rest, or candle holder.
- Sculpting - kiddos could sculpt dolls, action figures, pets, bugs... the sky is the limit!
The options with hand building really are endless - feel free to come inspired and create whatever you'd like - Maddison is there to guide you. You are encouraged to create projects that will be useful in your everyday life and cherished for years to come...
During hand-building sessions, we will all be together, but, Parents will sit together at a big table to focus on their own projects, while Tots hang out together at the kids table to immerse themselves into a world of endless clay creativity!
During our pottery wheel lessons (Sessions 3 + 4) Parents will learn...
Wheel Lesson One
- Weighing + Wedging Demonstration
- Recycling Clay Explained
- Wheel Throwing Demonstration - learning how to throw a cylinder & add shape
- Time practicing on the wheel - with hands on guidance from Maddison
Wheel Lesson Two
- Pottery Trimming Demonstration - we will learn how to trim feet into our pots from the previous week, carve our initials to mark our work, and play with carving techniques to add texture to our work.
- Explaining Carving, Underglaze, Attaching Handles, Etc. - we will spend some time examining examples of different techniques, and then applying these techniques to our own projects.
- Free Time - trim, carve, attach handles, and decorate your work as you please.
Spare time?
- Continue to practice throwing on the pottery wheel - anything you create on your second wheel session will be tidied up and have your name marked in it by Maddison.
** During Wheel Throwing Lessons, Tots will be taking turns on 1 pottery wheel, constantly supervised, while also hopping over to learn from their Parent/Guardian.
Maddison is committed to helping students understand the process so that they can rapidly gain confidence with the fundamentals of wheel throwing to help avoid many common mistakes that beginners make. Each person will receive pointers, and demonstrations to correct common mistakes; but it's also important to remember that making mistakes is how we learn, it's all part of the process, and regardless of the outcome; it's about committing to practice and having fun with learning through feedback!
(Session 5)
During our final glazing workshop we will cover...
- What is glaze? Why do we use it?
- What is wax resist? Why/When do we use it?
- Combining glazes for special effects
- Hand Brushing VS Dipping Glazes
After Session 5 - your glazed work will be fired in the kiln once more to transform the glaze and clay to maturity. Once finished, your work will be labelled and set aside for you to pick up from the Pick Up Cabinet outside of my studio.
You and your Buddy will be notified via e-mail when your pottery workshop projects are ready to be picked up from the studio! Prompt pick up is appreciated. Local drop off can often be accommodated if needed.
