Pottery painting is one of our favorite family outings. Since our first visit to Glazed in Glastonbury back in 2019, we’ve been hooked!
Now, we’ve made it our mission to try out all the PYO (paint your own) pottery studios in our greater Hartford area. Over the summer we branched out with a visit to The Firestone in Manchester.
And more recently, we checked out The Claypen in West Hartford!
First of all, I had no idea that The Firestone and The Claypen are owned by the same people. One of the staff members at The Claypen, which is the much older location dating back to 1997, told me they like to think of The Firestone as the cooler younger sibling 😉 But The Claypen has plenty going for it as well.
For starters, The Claypen is located on Farmington Avenue in the heart of West Hartford.
There are so many great options for shopping and dining all around, so you can really make this a whole day outing if you’re looking for that kind of activity. My family is newly obsessed with Max Burger, if you’re looking for a family friendly but definitely adult worthy spot to try.
There is metered street parking along Farmington Avenue.
We made a reservation for The Claypen online, which I highly recommend doing because it is a rather tiny place and the tables do fill up.
The pottery selection seems a little smaller than the other studios we’ve visited, but there are still plenty of options, from basic plates and mugs to adorable figurines.
The kids made their selections and we headed over to our table to pick out paint colors. As with the other studios we’ve sampled, the friendly staff members will fetch your paint for you here. This small but crucial convenience makes it much easier to manage an outing like this with young kiddos since you (the responsible adult) do not need to worry about trying to dish out paint colors and keep your children from certain disaster in a room filled with breakables. LOL.
My boys are seasoned pros at this by now, so they get right down to business!
This was the first time pottery painting for Little Miss.
When you’re finished, just leave all your materials on the table for the staff to clear. Stop at the front desk to settle your tab.
And you’re on your way! The studio will give you a call in about a week or so when your piece(s) has been glazed and fired, and is ready for pickup. Which happily gave us another excuse to hit up Max Burger 😉
You can also check out their selection of drop-off kids’ classes here!
Happy painting!
The Claypen Pottery and Art Studio
997 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06107
(860)233-3322
info@theclaypen.com
Find them on Facebook and Instagram!
Hours (2024):
Monday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Tuesday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Wednesday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Thursday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Friday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Saturday 12:00pm – 9:00pm
Sunday 12:00pm – 7:00pm
Pricing (2024):
Pricing varies by the cost of the item you choose to paint. All painting supplies as well as glazing and firing is included in the price of the item.
Details:
Stroller Friendly: NO, it’s pretty tight in there.
Coffee Mug Friendly: YES
Restroom: YES
Baby Changing Station: NO
Parking: Metered street parking available (credit cards accepted)
Food for Sale: NO
Outside Food Allowed: I didn’t see anything prohibiting it, but it would be tough to try to eat and paint in this small space so I would advise against it anyway.
Cash Required: NO
Age Recommendation: I took my kids to paint-your-own pottery for the first time around age 6 and that was successful. But you know your kiddo best!
Dress Code: Clothes you don’t mind painting in (although my experience has been that pottery paint is very washable).
Evening/Weekend Hours: YES
Birthday Party Venue: YES. Find more info here.
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