Object: Several small clay jars.

Lesson: Love; self-esteem.

"I've brought two small things this morning to pass around so you can look at them. What are they?"

"Vases!" some children answer.

"Little jars," others suggest.

"Well, what do you think they are made of?"

"Glass?" comes the first tentative response. "That's a good guess. They are very much like glass vases and jars. But they are made of something else."

"Clay!" a more certain child pronounces with a hint of "Aha!" in his voice.

"Clay. That's right. Where do we get clay?"  In asking this question I find myself hoping no one comes back with, "At the store."

"We get it out of the ground," comes the welcome answer.

"Yes, we get it out of the ground," I agree. "So, clay comes from the earth; it is a type of earth. We could s…