Two New Kids' Workshops in March and April to Celebrate Spring and Mother's Day! Plus, Our Foundational Pottery Wheel Class For Adults Starts Tuesday, and It Still Has Spots Open!

Hello, Friends of the Staunton Clayground!

The season of new growth and renewal is just around the corner, which means it’s time to get little hands busycelebrating springtime by creating! We’ve got two different kids’ workshops planned to do just that.

Join instructor Brooke Fawley to celebrate the return of brighter days and the first flowers popping up by making a blossom-shaped tea-light holder out of clay! Terrific Tea Lights is A One-Day Kids’ Workshop for ages 7 to 12, taking place on a Saturday morning from 10:00–11:30 a.m., on March 29, 2025.

Pick-up in time for Easter, not to mention Mother’s Day!

Making this flower-like vessel will teach attendees the basics of handbuilding using clay, plus they are a lot of fun! Brooke will help students to pick a glaze color that compliments their pieces, and they will come back on Saturday, April 12, to pick up their finished, fired tea-light holders, well in time for Easter and for Mother’s Day! Make Mom a gift that will brighten not only her day, but her every evening!

Then, in April, kids can join us for another Kids’ Workshop! A Teacup for Mom: A Three-Hour Mother’s Day Workshop In Two Parts (Ages 8–12) – Saturday afternoons, 1:00–2:30 pm, April 12 & 26, 2025.

Tea? Coffee? Whatever Mom wants to put in it, it will be sure to be flavored with love!

Kids will have a chance to make a handmade gift from the heart, as well as a great chance to learn and build on foundational skills for crafting functional handbuilt pottery. In the first session, instructor Brooke Fawley will teach attendees how to build a teacup by hand out of clay. During the second session, kids will get to paint their teacups with underglazes, adding designs of their choosing. Pickup at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 3… in time for Mother’s Day! What better way to tell Mom you appreciate her than by “treating” her to a nice cup of tea?

What’s going on for grown-ups, you ask? Well, we have quite a few wheel throwing and handbuilding classes and workshops starting over the next several weeks. In fact, you could still join us for our very next class, starting this coming week: Foundational Pottery Wheel For All Levels – Beginner and Up: Mastering And Building On Basic Skills: Tuesday evenings, 5:00–7:15, March 11–April 29, 2025.

Grown-ups need playtime, too!

Come join instructor Valya Boutenko to learn the foundational skills you need to throw functional pottery on the wheel! Students will gain confidence while  centering clay and throwing basic forms such as cylinders, cups andbowls. The class will focus on mastering the simple throwing and trimming techniques you need to begin creating your own work on your own, and will cover pulling handles for mugs as well as glazing techniques.

First-time beginners are welcome!

Not the right time/day for you? Check out the comprehensive list of our upcoming classes and workshops to see them all and find your perfect fit!

We have so many great things in the works. Look out for a new newsletter with even more fun to be had, coming very soon!

We can’t wait for you to come clay with us! 😃

Kids' Workshops Are Here! Monsters and Mugs (and something for Valentine's Day, of course!)

Hello, dear Friends of the Staunton Clayground!

We hope that your New Year has gotten off to a fantastic start! Our 2025 pottery classes for grown-ups are up and running, despite a couple of snow delays, and we are so happy to be back with our hands in clay. What we’re realllllyyyyyy excited about right now, though, are our kids’ workshops! The first round of 2025 classes for young creators of various ages is ready to go, so read on to find out more!

Let’s start with monsters (and really, if there are monsters involved, where else would you start?). We have two different workshops, one for kids ages 6–11, and the other for young creators ages 12–16, both taught by that incomparable creator of monsters, our very own Brooke Fawley!

Don’t worry, they’re the friendly sort ;-)

Marvelous Monsters! is a two-hour workshop in two parts, for kids ages 6–11, to be held on Saturday mornings, February 15 & March 1, from 10:30–11:30 am.

Make your very own marvelous monster to take home! In the first session, kids will learn how to hand-build and sculpttheir monstrosities out of clay. In the second session, they will paint them with all kinds of fun underglazes to make them stand out from the crowd! Finished and fired monsters will be ready for pick-up at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 8. Uaaarrrggh!

Don’t worry, they won’t steal your cocoa! They’ll keep it safe for you :-)

Make A Monster Mug! is a four-hour workshop in two parts, for kids ages 12–16, that will run on Saturday afternoons, February 15 & March 1, from 1:00–3:00 pm.

Make every day a terror-ifically monstrous delight by putting your favorite hot beverage in your very own handmade monster mug! In the first session, participants will learn the basics of a foundational hand-building technique, slab-building, so that they can craft their mugs, and will be shown how to transform them into monstrosities of the very best kind! In the second session, they will apply underglaze colors to make their monsters even more wild, wonderful and unique! Fired mugs will be ready for pick up on Saturday, March 8, at 1:00 pm.

From monsters, let’s move on to dragons… well, a very specific dragon: our local Book Dragon!

This dragon wants to be your Valentine!

Join us for Story Time & Paint-Your-Own Ceramic Valentine’s Heart! A Half-Hour Workshop for Kids Ages 5+: Saturday, February 8, at the Book Dragon, from 1:00–2:30 pm, with seatings every half-hour.

Calling all kids ages 5 and up! Come and paint your own handmade Valentine’s Heart at the Book Dragon bookshop, located at 102 W. Beverley Street. Join us for a themed story time and a chance to decorate a clay ornament in the shape of a heart, handmade for you by the Staunton Clayground pottery studio! Parents can browse the shelves while they wait. Valentine’s Hearts will be ready to take home at the end of the session, and kids can collect a treat on their way out the door!

Ticket price: $10 (each additional child, $8.00). We will be seating 8 children at a time, every half hour.

And that’s just what we’ve got starting in February! Stay tuned for additional kids’ workshop news coming soon, with more workshops for young folks of various ages, coming in March and April, both at the Staunton Claygroundstudio and in conjunction with Staunton Parks & Rec, which will be hosted in their facility at Gypsy Hill Park.

Keep watching this space! We can’t wait for you to clay with us 😊

Wishing you a warm and joyful weekend!