1. If his first impulse is to pound and thump the clay, show the child how pretty things may be made by gently pressing and molding the clay between thumb and fingers. If he is still interested in pounding, show him how to make a sphere by rolling the clay between the palms, and then by striking it four times hard against the table it is transformed into a rough sort of cube which further effort will improve.
2. If he inclines to make a number of balls, show him if possible one of the cheap clay marbles, and tell him to make some like it, though his will have no glazing.
3. If you see that he is rolling the clay into long lengths, suggest that he make a snake or links of a chain.
4. Older children may be shown how to roll it with the palm into long slender cylinders. Then coil these round and round spirally upon themselves and so build up a jar, as certain primitive races do. Then smooth it outside and inside until well shaped.
5. Bowls and crude vases are easily made, and these when dried may be painted and used to hold matches or pencils.
6. Sometimes, to stir the imagination, break off a rough piece of clay and ask the child if it looks like anything to him. If it suggest a bird or fish or fruit, show him how the crude form may be made more nearly perfect.
7. Take a bit of clay and upon it press another bit, and so little by little smooth and press and build up a plaque ½ inch high and four inches square. Upon this as a background, build up in the same way, little by little, a raised leaf, or a geometrical figure, such as a square or a Maltese cross. If a leaf is made, copy from a real leaf.
When thus interested, let the older children read Longfellow's beautiful poem, "Keramis," and the work of the potter will have a meaning it never had before.
The children who thus make crude efforts to express the beautiful gain in power little by little, and will have added capacity to appreciate the wonderful works of art to be seen in every gallery. They will gain in discrimination as to what is really beautiful, and will know how to choose those decorations and ornaments which will make their homes truly artistic.
Clay lends itself so readily to the slightest turn of thought, and is so easily employed by the smallest pair of hands, that it is one of the best materials to give to the little child. He soon learns to tell with it what he may be able to say in no other way.