DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Mexican Pottery Paper Plate Craft

Contributed by Leanne Guenther

This is a simple craft to do as part of a Mexican (Aztec) history lesson.  Younger children will paint simpler images and older children or art students can make them more complex.

Materials:

• scrap paper and pencil
• paper plate,
• Paint (we used brown and yellow) -- shades of black, white, brown, orange, yellow and red are all appropriate choices.
• Paintbrush,

Instructions:

• Draw a rough design on a scrap piece of paper.
  •  The pottery designs usually have a geometric design around the edge (zig zags work!)
  • You can use anything as your inspiration.
  • The sun is a very popular image in Aztec art.
    
      .  .
  • Images from the Aztec calendar are also popular subjects -- each day of the month has its own symbol.  Here are just a few that we liked.
     
    

     

    Aztec goddess (rabbit) Tochtli -- A day of self sacrifice and service to something greater than oneself.

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    Aztec god (deer) Mazatl -- A day for breaking old routines.

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    Aztec god (lizard) Cuetzpalin -- A good day to work on your reputation through actions not words.

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  • Remember you need to keep the image simple enough to paint it.
• Paint your paper plate a base color (we used yellow paint for this).
• Let dry
• Note:  acrylic paint dries very fast.  If your children are old enough to keep it off their clothes, it's a great option.  If it does get onto something, wash it out immediately...  Once it dries, it is not washable.
• Use paint colours like brown or black to paint the design on your plate.
• Add a little bit of geometric design around the edge of the plate.