Art & Craft Projects: Ganesha Clay Sculpture

Hari OM!

This blog is designed to serve as a library of art and craft ideas for our balavihar children. We hope that you will find this site useful. Please feel free to use any (or all) of the projects you see posted here. We ask, however, that you refrain from publishing (in any form) these templates, instructions, and photographs, unless you receive written permission. These projects are being provided for your own personal use or use in the Balavihar classroom.

All art projects are categorized by 1) material, 2) use, and 3) type. For example a Diya greeting card would be under the labels "Paper" and "Cards," while a Lord Hanumaan puppet would be found under "Paper," "Toys and Puppets" and "Gods and Goddesses." Most materials for these projects can easily be purchased from any local craft store — and some projects involve materials you already have laying around the house.

We would love to hear your suggestions and ideas about any of the information you find on this site. And, if you have any projects that you would like to share with other seviks/sevikas, please send a picture of the finished piece, as well as instructions on how to make the project – so we can post it.

Happy Creating!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ganesha Clay Sculpture

Click on image to view enlarged.

This is a really fun project, for children (and adults) of all ages. One of our moms taught us how to do this in the Toddler Class a few years back, and it's been a hit ever since! The kids never get tired of making Lord Ganesha ...

Materials

Clay (Crayola Modeling Magic works best)

In the following photographs, the shapes are colored coded to help you step through the process. You will need to make: (See Photo A)

1 large ball for the body (orange)

1 smaller ball for the head (pink)

2 small balls for the ears (blue)

2 log shapes for the legs (yellow)

2 log shapes for the arms (green)

1 small log shape for the crown (green)

Photo A

Take the pink ball and stretch it (very gently and slowly) until it has a thick shape at one end and a long tail at the other. (See Photo B)

Photo B

Curl the tail up on one side and push it in a little to make it stick. Flatten the clay (just a little) to make it look like an elephant's head. (See Photo C)

Photo C

Place the pink head onto the orange body. Press it in gently and smooth the pieces together with your fingers. (See Photo D)

Photo D

Starting from behind the body, wrap the yellow logs around to the front. Flatten the front of the logs with your fingers to look like Ganesha's feet. (See Photo E)

Photo E

Starting from behind the body, wrap the green logs around to the front. Flatten the front of the logs with your fingers to look like Ganesha's hands. (See Photo F)