makershack at cheltenham science festival

girl making an octopus in makershack cheltenham science festival

Delighted to announce we’ll once again be expounding the scientific attributes of clay at The Cheltenham Science Festival taking place 6-11 June 2023.

We’ve been a  staple of the MakerShack since 2016 and worked with 10’s of thousands of participants getting hands on with clay in this marvelous, family friendly interactive space.

Just to whet your appetite, here’s a few photos from the MakerShack last year….and a lovely little video produced by the the organisers.

makershack at cheltenham science festival

childrens hands in wet squidgy clay at cheltenham science festival 2019

childrens hands in wet squidgy clay at cheltenham science festival 2019Under normal circumstances (remember them!?) we’d have been up to our eyeballs in clay at the brilliant Maker Shack as part of Cheltenham Science Festival.

We’ve been involved in the Makershack since its inauguration in 2017. Last year we encouraged visitors to make a press molded brick, using real brick clay from Coleford Brick and Tile Company based in the Forest of Dean.

The bricks were assembled into a giant castle and we worked with nearly 10,000 people over the x6 days of the festival! – that’s a shed load of bricks! The sheer volume of visitors meant we had to build a fresh structure each day, deconstructing the building at the close and re-claiming the material for the next morning.

Athough the Makershack was primarily aimed at Primary school aged students – (and man, there must have been very few Gloucestershire schools who didn’t visit the show), on Friday night grown-ups got to play with the technology in a special after-hours session between 8pm and 10pm.

Although it’s full-on, we love the #makershack and look forward to sharing the scientific benefits of engaging with clay, with festival visitors in 2021.

Potters Wheel Introduction

Over the years we’ve produced a collection of ‘how to do’ videos.

In an attempt to help educate and ‘entertain’ the nations children, we’ve dusted off a few of the ‘better’ (?) ones to post here on our website.

So far Jon the Potter has showed you how to make a clay fish and a coil pot owl. In this, the third in the series he talks you through the process of throwing a pot on the potter’s wheel… You might need a potter’s wheel for this one! Even if you don’t, you cant beat the magic of watching a lump of clay magically transform into a pot on the potter’s wheel.

Enjoy! and if you are lucky enough to own a potter’s wheel, we’d love to see your results. Ping us a pic on TwitterFace Book or Instagram – make sure you tag us in too! We’re @eastnorpottery on most platforms.

clay owl made on a pottery class at eastnor pottery in herefordshire

Over the years we’ve produced a collection of ‘how to do’ videos.

In an attempt to help educate and ‘entertain’ the nations children during lock-down, we’ve dusted off a few of the ‘better’ (?) ones to post here on our website.

Last time, Jon the Potter showed you how to make a pottery fish using the ‘pinch-pot’ method. Here’s the second tutorial on how to make a coil-pot owl.

If you don’t have access to clay, why not try using play dough?

Good luck everybody and we’d love to see how you get on. Ping us a pic on TwitterFace Book or Instagram – make sure you tag us in too! We’re @eastnorpottery on most platforms.

Clay Sculpting

A lot of home-schooling going on at the moment!

Over the years we’ve produced a collection of ‘how to do’ videos.

In an attempt to help educate and ‘entertain’ the nations children, we’ve dusted off a few of the ‘better’ (?) ones to post here on our website.

Here’s the first one on how to make a clay fish. If you don’t have access to clay, why not try using play dough?

Good luck everybody and we’d love to see how you get on. Ping us a pic on Twitter, Face Book or Instagram – make sure you tag us in too! We’re @eastnorpottery on most platforms.

Loads more where this little gem came from! Head on over to our Eastnor Pottery YouTube channel for more epic productions!