Oh my! Our first package has arrived!

1B class in Helsinki, Finland were soooo excited to have received such a big package full of fantastic greetings and pictures from their new friends! Most of the children in the class have not visited NYC yet so their friends’ description of what Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are like gave more juice for the imagination than you can begin to imagine!

Everybody first had a go at reading their friend’s letter by themselves. I think that the kids were too excited to focus on the words! After everybody had read their letter they started their response. Some wanted to start by drawing a picture and others immediately wanted to answer their friend’s questions.

This was wonderful as we got to practice how to be conversational on paper. The questions the New Yorkers asked were just lovely! How many people live in Finland? What is the weather like? Do you have any pets? There was a range of questions, but what was also lovely was how open and sharing everybody was. What a welcoming start to a long distance friendship!

We read and responded to the letters at school and soon realized that this was also a great opportunity to involve the parents. The parents helped the kids write their responses and find out facts for the curious New Yorkers. For example, we learnt that there are more people living in NYC than all of Finland! I think the parents had fun finding all of this information with their child : ).

The package will be sent to USA first thing tomorrow morning. Keep your eyes peeled!

With love,
Arlene & 1B

The students in Grade 2 (7-8 years old) at NEST+m in NYC are making and sharing art with the Grade 1 students at Ressun peruskoulu (7-8 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Expressing ourselves with carbon transfers

Teacher Tian Tian and her young artists in China have been busy making art!  They were experimenting with the carbon transfer technique and then used marker to add color to their self-portraits.

Their friends in Finland cannot wait to meet them!

The 6 year old artists at Shenzhen Primary School in Shenzhen, China are making and sharing with the Explorers, 5-6 year olds, from International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland.

Sneighnten CofE's Layers of Love!

These are the responses from the children - 

I liked all the different colours

I liked scraping all the black off...it was like magic!

It surprised me how good it came out

The colours look like he is under the sea, it looks amazing. just like he is under the sea!

I liked making the patterns

Wow...the is amazing, I am going to do this at home

The children love love loved this project!!

Nina Evans

The 5 and 6 year olds in Class 1 from Sneinton C of E Primary School in Nottingham, UK are making and sharing art with the 5 and 6 year olds in Prepri C from Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico.

Come out for a picnic with us!

Now we have almost finished the table cloth, the gift to our friends in Texas. The kids are so proud of their work! We had a lot of fun doing the project „Come have a bite to eat with me“, and the kids liked thinking that their friends abroad would go out for a picnic using the table cloth that was made here in Iceland. Ithas lively, happy colours as we would like to feel when we go out together and have a good meal!

On Wednesday, we will have a school exhibition where the kids are showing their work to their parents and inhabitants of our town are invited. We really want to have the cloth there for them to introduce this wonderful project to them. After that we will send it to you.

Best wishes to you all,
Halla and Guðný

The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.

Здравствуйте! Hello from Karelia!

Здравствуйте! Посылаю фото масок и книг, думаю. Напишу, когда начнем делать след задание. Всего наилучшего!
Эльвира

"Hi! Here are photos of the books and the mask. I will message when we start making the next task. All the best!"
Elvira

The artists from Кепа школу (Kepa School) in Karelia, Russia are making and sharing art with the 1A artists at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.

From Iceland to Texas, with love!

Here are pictures of the work, tomorrow the books will be sent to Texas.  The kids have had much fun doing the books. They introduced their book to the class, keeping it a secret which food they had chosen. The class was guessing and they were very excited, and in the end the secret came out.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to take part in this, and it is also great to see it on Facebook.

Love, Halla and Guðný

The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.

Anything is possible when you're having fun!

The mask project was difficult for grade 1 students to understand (we teach art in French), but the projects are cute!

Elizabeth Goldsworthy and her 1st graders at Sheppard Public School in Ontario, Canada are making and sharing art with Tatjana Knudsen and her 3rd graders at Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark.

Walking this way and that way!

The headline "I'm a walking pattern" made my 3rd graders wonder how they actually could be walking patterns, but it didn't take long before they started to examine their hands, fingerprints, eyes and skin. As a teacher it was an interesting process. My students were so absorbed in their study that they didn't really need me in the room. 

Very fast my students discovered that our body really is a walking pattern. One of the students even said: "Tatjana, it is so amazing our body is full of different lines and patterns......each and every one of us is a little miracle". Wauw!

Another student asked if they could have magnifying glasses, and of course they could. Within a few minutes I saw 19 young detectives investigating patterns on their hands, fingers, and skin.

I asked my students how we could make a piece of art, that could show what we had discovered about our magnificent body. One suggested that they made drawing of their fingerprints, another said that It would be fun if they could make a print of a hand walk. I was into the last idea, and I must say that I think the results are so full of creativity. I'm proud of my 3rd. graders and I hope that our friends in Canada will be pleased with "the walking handprints"

My best,
Tatjana

Tatjana Knudsen and her 3rd grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with Elizabeth Goldsworthy's 1st graders at Sheppard Public School in Ontario, Canada.

Iceland has so many ways of seeing : )

Halla and Guðný, teachers of 1st and 2nd grade artists know how to get everybody excited!  What a wonderful idea they had to use microscopes!

The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.

All the things we see!

Dear Monkeys!

It was a very sunny and hot day in India today. The Arivu kids are almost ready to start their summer holiday.

We have given your string drawings to their teacher and they will do an exhibition before giving the artworks to your friends. They all are waiting to get the drawings and know you all!
The houses/huts painted this time are the Arivu school buildings that your friends chose to see through their viewfinders. It is so warm here that they can study with the windows open and often outside in the huts. 

Uncle Subbu's car, which was parked outside, was another popular subject today, especially among the boys!

The hot sun, flowers, plants and even butterflies were also found today through the viewfinders.

Greetings from your Indian friends!