Ceramic Phone or Tablet Stands

I always love finding ways to play with traditional materials in new ways. To be honest, clay was never my forte. My first years teaching every clay project was basically a pinch pot, or a pinch vase, pinch bowl etc. A few years ago, I started to look more critically at my weakest areas and take steps to improve.

Placing your cell phone in a bowl or cup will act as DIY speaker/amplifier. Rather than putting my phone in a bowl, I now put my phone or tablet into a ceramic speaker I made. I simply put a pinch pot on its side then cut a slot in the back and decorate.

My recommendation is to build monsters, but I give students options on how they want to decorate the form. My preference for monsters is because, with fictive creatures, there is no right or wrong allowing students to focus more on principles of design at play - using rounded or pointed features to create a mood etc.

Kids have a lot of fun making these and I think it is always nice to have art that is functional (particularly in a classroom with one to one iPads). Part of the challenge of this project is making sure that the stand is functional. A device must be able to balance and to help with that, I recommend making a tale or something else in the back that can serve as a sort of kickstand. Additionally, it is important to remember that clay shrinks by about 10% as it dries out so the hole for the device should be bigger than one might expect.

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