Wood is the best building material for general use.
Pasteboard serves well, but it is less substantial. It is also harder to cut and paste heavy cardboard than it is to saw and nail thin wood.
Clay may be used for all buildings which are commonly made of concrete.
Stock.—The different kinds of animals needed on the farm and the number of each will furnish profitable subject matter for class discussion. The animals may be modeled from clay. While the animals will of necessity be very large in proportion to the acreage of the farm, attention should be directed to the relative proportions between horses and hogs, cattle and sheep. Differences of this sort do not trouble little people, as their work is sure to show. The point should be stressed only sufficiently to help them to see a little more clearly and express their ideas a little more adequately each time they try. The accuracy of the result is important only as an index that the children are steadily developing in power to see and do, and gaining self-reliance.
The Modeling Process.—The best method seems to be simply to begin, and, for example, model as good a horse as possible; then discuss the results, note a few serious defects, and try again, endeavoring to correct them. Encourage rapid work which gives the general proportions of the animal in the rough. Beginners are apt to waste time in a purposeless smoothing of the clay, in mere tactual enjoyment. Discourage the tendency to finish the details of a horse's head, for example, before the body has been modeled. Repeat the process as often as time and the interest of the children warrant, but be satisfied if the children are doing the best they can, even though the results are crude and not so good as some other class has produced. The children should always feel that the work is their own. For this reason the teacher's help in clay modeling should be through demonstration rather than by finishing touches to the child's work. Imitation is a strong instinct in little children, and watching the teacher model a better horse than he can make will help a child to improve his own. One thing to be especially avoided is the attempt to bring every class to a uniform degree of excellence according to adult standards. Such an ideal encourages the giving of help in a way which hinders real development though it may produce immediate results.
Fig. 41.—
Detail of paper tree.
Trees.—This topic will call out a discussion of the uses of trees; which trees are shade trees, which are cultivated for their fruit, the distinguishing characteristics of the different varieties, and the ones best suited to this particular farm.
Twigs from the real tree should be used wherever possible. In other cases the trees may be cut from paper. If a good green paper is not at hand, use drawing paper and color with crayons. A realistic effect is gained by cutting the tree from folded paper. (See [Fig. 41].) Cut three pieces for each tree and paste together at the fold, then open out. Make the trunk long enough to be driven an inch or more into the sand.