Pottery wheel for a child?

[KalamazooMom]

(Cross posted on Arts & Crafts)

My 7.5 year old DD is very crafty. She has done some work with clay in her art class at school and she is saying she wants a pottery wheel for Christmas. There are some pottery wheels made for kids. Here's one example I've looked at:

http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Deluxe-Po...6256018&sr=1-1

Anyone have any experience with this? Would you think something like that would be worth it? I hate to spend the money if it's really not going to do much for her. Some of the reviews for other models say the motors aren't strong enough. I also thought of getting her a regular pottery wheel if it would be something that would last longer. How much would I pay for one of those?

Any tips on looking for a pottery wheel for a child?

Thanks!

[Starr]

Personally I wouldn't. Pottery is very tricky at first and having a less than stellar wheel can make it more difficult. I just don't see it lasting very long. What about an actual pottery class or lesson? One great way is to contact your art department in the school and see if they allow the public to use the wheels at night. It would probably take her a few lessons for the wheel but there are other clay acticities she could do as well.

[Starr]

Depending on what kind of wheel they can be anywhere from $300 to $2,000, plus you would need a kiln which is even more.

[Teensy]

My DS has the Alex pottery wheel (your link isn't working, so I'm not sure it if is the same one). He has used it a few times and made some slightly lopsided bowls. He seems to enjoy it okay, but he doesn't love it because it is so difficult to make a bowl. It makes a big mess too, so I banished it to the back porch, so that limits his ability to use it also.

You can buy air drying clay at arts & craft big box stores like Micheals. I think we got 25 pounds, for maybe $20? So a kiln is not necessary.

DS's pottery teacher (he takes a hand class, the art school only offers wheel classes for ages 10+ since it requires a certain amount of height and strength to throw on their wheels, apparently) offered to have him bring it to class and she would give him some advice - we are going to take her up on it.

[Starr]

I should clarify I took 3 years of pottery in high school and the first few weeks my arms and hands were very sore. You do need to have endurance and strong arms. And this was with an electric wheel, I didn't last more than a week on the kick one .

[4evermom]

The toy ones really don't work well. I'd rather invest the money in pottery classes if you can find a place that will teach someone her age to throw on a wheel.

[KalamazooMom]

Originally Posted by Teensy

My DS has the Alex pottery wheel (your link isn't working, so I'm not sure it if is the same one). .

Sorry, yes, it's the Alex one I was looking at.

You know I never thought about a class. I think that is a better idea. She'd probably get a lot more out of that.