activities going on can offer stimulation for it and insure a vital
purpose for its use. Many types of stimulation are necessary in order
to provide for interests and backgrounds and to keep a program from
becoming monotonous.

* Some suggestions for stimulation follow:

* Changing from one material to another affords a fesh interest.

* The inherent stimulation of a new material is important to chil-
dren.

* Often with small children in pre-school and kindergarten, the
material alone, such as paint and clay, is sufficient motivation.

* Teachers should be alert for guiding class discussions around
personal interests and experiences.

* Sometimes "acting out" or dramatizing an idea will make it more
vivid and insure stronger reaction and art expression.

* Victrola records, movies, stories and poetry can provide inspira-
ation for art work.

* Excursions and visits to local places provide new and stimulating
situations. Such spots as the zoo, a curb market, the railroad station,
the bus station, a busy street corner, the water-front of docks, boats,
and fishermen are suggestions. All children will enjoy expressing
their reactions to these trips from memory. Occasionally older chil-
dren may want to work on the spot, adapting and interpreting the
material, not copying it. Class trips to department stores and dime
stores can be a means of teaching appreciation for wise selection of
utilitarian objects. When children decide to design and make objects
from materials, it is very important that they be guided to select a
project for which they have a purpose. Often natural material and
man-made objects brought into the classroom by the children or
the teacher can stimulate interest. These should never be copied but
used to further understanding and enrich ideas. Reference materials
such as color reproductions, prints, post cards, art pictures clipped
from magazines, etc., should be used in the same manner. Showing
too much illustrative material at the beginning of a project and
stressing technique can become an inhibiting factor and should be
avoided.

* Giving proper acknowledgment to children's efforts by display-
ing them in the classroom and in school exhibitions can have enormous
motivating value. Every child should be represented from time to
time. Discussions of children's art, where good points of the work
is stressed, leads to growth and understanding.