This is a fan favorite! I have done this project with middle school and high school students. The students learn the basic properties of clay along with pinch building, additive sculpture, and carving while creating a functional piece of art. After learning the components of the whistle and where they MUST be placed in order for the whistle to work, the students were challenged to design a creature whistle that seamlessly integrated the whistle parts into the design. After hearing the first whistle come to life, the rest of the class is off to the races. This one is a keeper!
These look GREAT! I've done this project before with some success. I find it difficult to get the kids to get the holes exactly right. Many of them want to quit out of frustration rather than keep trying AND they don't like blowing into the wet clay.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sally! We make practice whistles together as a group first. Then we can all get over the willies together :) They can't start on the final project until they can make noise out of the practice one. I step in and help a little as time goes on and frustration is over the limits. I really like if they can do it themselves though. Once they get it, they're practically giddy. I've found some really good "how to's" that I printed off that include photographs. If you are interested I can email them to you.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteI am not the above person that initially asked, but I have had the same problem myself. It would be awesome if you could email me a copy of the "how to's". I really would love to teach my students this one and I know it would be a hit. I am a teacher at St. Michael Catholic School in Houston TX. Thanks so much for any help you can offer!