Pinch-pot

DEFINITION

Pinching is a pottery technique, fundamental to manipulating clay. Making a pinch-pot is pressing the thumb into a ball of clay, and drawing the clay out into a pot by repeatedly squeezing the clay between the thumb and fingers. Among their first adventures with clay, K-2 students should have ample opportunities to make pinch-pots, the initial goals of which are: thin walls (from center of bottom to the lip), a smooth inner surface, and identity marked on the underside.