Kids 'N' Clay Pottery Studio

Fantastic place! Happiest day for my daughter
Feb 12th, 2022

Both of the kids (9&6) absolutely love this place. The staff is super friendly, and they are very hands on with the teaching. We can't wait to try the adult class one of these Wednesday's.
Dec 21st, 2019

Oct 23rd, 2019

My daughter asked to do pottery for her birthday and I stumbled upon this venue online.  What a GEM!!!!  The birthday was the most creative, serene, joyful experience I could imagine for a 7 year old's party.  The teaching team was outstanding and the look on the kids' faces as they used the potter's wheel revealed the most beautiful mixture of surprise, pride and bliss.  Every parent raved about the luminous, beautiful studio and experience and wrote down the contact info so they could bring their kids back for more another day.  What a delightfully smooth and inspiring birthday!
Sep 28th, 2019

So far just one class with my 5-year-old son, but I'm very impressed on multiple fronts. After the initial drop-in class yesterday we purchased  weekly classes with the full expectation this initial great experience will only be surpassed. Husband & wife team Matt and Chelsea (owners) and Matt's sister Stephanie are lovely. It's a really great space and Matt is preternaturally good with younger kids. I shadowed my son for a bit in the studio to observe both my son's behavior in a structured environment and the instructors' teaching style. My son is both young and inherently independent (and often distracted) so this was bound to be revealing.Matt and Chelsea's approach to teaching is closer to informed guidance and it seems to work very well with my son and the other kids I observed. They let the child initiate their creative intent and then equip them with the technical information they need in a manner that is both empowering and not overwhelming. As for my son's proclivity to essentially 'not listen,' Matt in particular was excellent at focusing my son's attention on the task at hand and contextualizing what needed to be done so that he could 'own it.' It's clear his forthcoming studio experiences will be about so much more than learning and enjoying ceramics.  This isn't 'OK class today we're going to make a coil-built pot. First I want you to take your clay and...'. Not at all. In an hour and fifteen minutes, my son made two objects in distinctly different techniques: a bowl thrown on the wheel and a slab-built shark. In the course of building those two pieces he was exposed to: centering clay on the wheel; managing the clay to expand, compress, elongate and widen his bowl; keeping his eye on his work; keeping the clay moist; the effects of various pressures applied to the clay on the wheel; scoring and attaching separate pieces with slip; scribing; use of various tools; under-glazing; clean-up, and more. I imagine he'll have to revisit every one of those lessons in subsequent classes but it's a gentle teaching style that works well here. Matt and Chelsea always had an eye on each of the kids and were great about transitioning between them to give guidance in a way that seemed very natural. The space itself is wonderful and can only be described as luminous. Well, that and clean. This is not a stereotypical 'mad potter's studio,' nor is it an anal 'everything in its place mausoleum.' Instructors have a clear view of everything going on in the space at all times. There's a front seating for parents/nanny's to hang out (WiFi available) and get some work done if you want to wait. Parking in the neighborhood doesn't seem to be a problem. The most critical measure of Kids-n-Clay is the reaction from my son, who really didn't want to leave and spoke of it more or less non-stop the rest of the day. Looking forward to what's next here. If you attend a drop-in class, be aware it takes about 2-3 weeks before pieces cycle through the process and can come home with you. But that's just ceramics. Highly recommended.
Sep 17th, 2019