To begin, I asked them to think about their personalities and what adjectives could be used to describe them. Then they were to consider what animal might share these qualities with them. For instance, one student described herself as "funny, comfy and smart" so she chose a Husky as her animal. The next step was to make some sketches and consider some of the different ways they could depict it. 
The basic whistle shape consists of three parts: a small bowl, a flat circle, and a rectangle. Each part starts out by rolling the clay into a ball then pinch one into a bowl shape, flatten one, and flatten the sides for the third. Connect these three pieces by scoring and adding slip. The air holes go in next. This is the trickiest part. It takes patience to get them placed properly but the precision necessary makes the moment of success so exciting!
We used Air-Fire clay so we simply let the finished whistles out to dry over the weekend to harden. They used acrylics for color and then finished them with a ceramic sealant. Some students even added a string so they could wear it around their neck and literally whistle while they worked!The end result was colorful and bright music to everyone's ears.
