 Clay is mud, natural mud from the earth. It's not made with flour and it's not made with oil. It's just mud, a very special mud. What makes clay special is it's sticky. It sticks together, it sticks to itself. When you move it around, it stays where you put it. And when it dries, it gets very hard. Clay is often fired, meaning it's put in a kiln or an oven made just for cooking clay. And it's taken to temperatures as hot as a volcano. When it comes out of the kiln, it's no longer mud but has turned to stone, mud to stone or clay to pottery. Ancient man used clay for pottery and art. We still use clay today. Cups and bowls and plates are still made from clay. My coffee cup is made from clay. Your dinner plate is most likely made from clay. Pieces of art are still sculpted from clay. Clay is a common thread that ties man together from his earliest beginnings to now. People have been using clay and making pottery since we've been people. All over the world, ancient civilizations used clay. Pottery played an important role in many cultures. China, Africa, Peru and Greece, just name a few, all had pottery as a major part of their history. At the same time they were making pottery, the people wanted to use clay for art. They used the same process they used to make the pottery to make decorative pieces or sculptures. If it's functional like cups and bowls and plates, it's pottery. If it's decorative, it's sculpture.