This study intends to examine teacher´s thoughts and perception of esthetic activities at preschools. I have chosen to restrict the esthetic area to the significance and function of clay to the teachers and children. On the basis of the belief that children can, and need access to a variety of ways to express themselves, we used the interviews to take part of teachers work and thoughts concerning clay, and the esthetic work. I have in this qualitative study addressed four questions: How do the teachers use clay in preschool activities? What do the teachers think about clay as a tool in the educational work at the preschool? Are the teachers working from the perception of children’s rights to express themselves in different ways and with the help of different tools? What function does clay fill for the children?

I have interviewed eight teachers and taken part of both older and more recent theories around children and the creativity in esthetic contexts. The result is that clay is a valuable tool for the children and it could work as a tool in the educational work at the preschool. The teachers use the clay to give the children the opportunity to use their creativity, to explain and to talk in a group and also to get to know the material. The teachers have the belief that clay and other esthetic activities can contribute to the language development and give the children more ways to express themselves verbally and with the help of images. My study shows that it depends on the single teacher’s interest and engagement on how big a part of the esthetic activities the child is allowed to take part in, and also how the work with clay is modulated. Furthermore, it looks like there is good access to both clay and opportunities for the children to create in different ways using different materials. The teachers in this study have different experiences and all do not see the clay as the most useful form of esthetic work, but can see that it works as a useful material and complement to other creative material at the preschool.