Clay Whistles

Objectives:You will be able to:• understand the properties of clay and work with clay at correct

stages.• Identify and apply the five handbuilding processes. • create a hollow form using two pinch pots.• create a ceramic whistle using the pinch and free form methods.• use the process of slipping and scoring and correct construction. • use critical and creative thinking skills in planning their design by

creating sketches.• create a functioning whistle with an aperture and mouthpiece. • create patterns and design by additive and subtractive methods.• create a unique and creative whistle transformed into a

recognizable object.

History of Whistles• Across the ages, whistles have been made and used in many cultures around the world

for communication (signaling), for spiritual purposes (in meditation and/or ritual), and for enjoyment (music and toys).

• Whistles are one of the oldest known musical instruments. They are made from a hollow ended column. Whistles sound by blowing air into the column, past a hole cut in the column wall, making the air vibrate. The earliest whistles were fashioned from the bones of birds.

• Whistles have been made from clay since the early Egyptians, South American, and Asian civilizations, long before the Christian era. Many of these were formed to look like birds, because they sounded similar

• Historians believe the small, hollow-pitched sound-making object originated in ancient China around 2500 B.C. when Chinese night watchmen blew into acorns to alert of an approaching enemy.

• Other early whistles were made from bones and clay. As an early whistle-making material, clay remained a valuable and durable source for whistle makers into modern day.

Ancient clay whistles with perforations so that it can be worn.