Tigers make it go!

See that flying car go!
See that monster truck go!
See that transformer go!
See that airplane go!
See that rocket go!
See that flying robot go!
See that walking bus go!

Where are they going to? To Vietnam!

The Tigers at Your School sure do know how to make these move.  We used geometric shapes to sketch out our ideas.  Next step is to make these drawings come to life!  I think the Tigers are a group full of inventors, engineers, mechanics, and definitely creative fun loving people.

With love,
Arlene and The Tigers

The Tigers are 4 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland.  They are making and exchanging art with the 4 year old artists at Just Kids School in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Have you ever seen this before?!

What a wonderful imagination all the Monkeys at Your School have!  From simple shapes, they all came up with vehicles that could glide, fly, drive over all kinds of terrain.

J made a magic creature that can take you anywhere you want to. You just have to hop in and write where you want to go and then pull.

M's vehicle has a chimney.  It's name is One Wheel and it can fly.

N's submarine can go upside down!

M thought a sea monster could be a fun new machine to ride.

W's vehicle is operated by a Snow Man. It can travel anywhere you want to- even on air, ground, and water!

N's camper van can fly because there is a motor.  There are symbols for the driver to push. E=engine. S=snola. G=gas. M=motor.

I think it's true when E says, "Nobody in the world has ever seen this vehicle before!  Because it's imaginary.  It has oval shaped wings and a lot of buttons."

The Monkeys always have loads of questions from their Moonstone friends in Philadelphia, USA.

How hot is it there?
Are they having fun?
What do they like to do?

"We all love receiving your artwork and we hope you like our things too!"

With love,
Arlene and The Monkeys

The 5-6 year old Monkeys from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and exchanging art with the 5 year old Full Moons from Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.
 

Revving engines in Denmark for a Happy Holiday!

Dear Arlene,

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your dear ones .

These are pictures from the last Dear You Project "Let's go"with our friends from Finland.

My students worked with cardboard, primary and secondary colors and geometrical figures. They were very busy on how to construct their vehicles.

My Best,
Tatjana

Art teacher Tatjana Knudson and her 3rd grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with Dear You Workshop Leader Eliisa Sorvali and the 3rd grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in, Vantaa, Finland.

Environment Consciousness Week in our thoughts

As there was Environment Consciousness Week right before the Atmosphere project, children drew air and land, polluted air and clean air. After taping all works together kids did not feel like adding anything.

So long,  enjoy holidays and time!

Best,
Evelyn

Evelyn Müürsepp and her 4-5 year old artists in Mooste Preschool in Mooste, Estonia are making and sharing art with Kristina Laine and her 4-5 year old artists at Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland.

Will they walk? or..drive?... or fly?!

The kids, as usual were very eager to start creating their next project. We remembered the amazing things we have made already. First we made a friend, then we had to make a house for that friend, then we needed a place for the house... now, how will our friend get around?

Will they walk? or..drive?... or fly?!
We had many ideas of transport that our imaginary friends could travel by. Cars, trains, buses, trucks, rockets....
I asked the children, so, what makes our things special? whats crazy or different about your train?

"my train is a High speed train!"
"my boat has candy inside!"
"my plane is also a bird!"
"my boat is going to my grandma and grandpa's house!"

So many imaginative ideas, we all had a great time playing with shapes and using our creativity.

Dear friends of Finland, we hope you enjoy our art!

Teacher Steph, the Tiger Cubs and the Puppies.

The 4 year old Puppies from Just Kids in Hanoi, Vietnam are making and sharing art with the artist Tigers at Your School in Espoo, Finland.  The 4 year old Tigers at Just Kids is starting a new friendship with the K1 artists at International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland. Exciting!! 

Wondering about wonders

Dear Arlene,

Thank you for the collaboration this autumn!

The images below are taken last Wed when the group opened their last letter from Canada.

Our group has enjoyed all letters they have received. They wondered how the others write mistakes and only simple sentences :). They have been acting as teachers. it seems that we demand a lot of learning results from our pupil. 

I wish you all the best for the holiday season!

Br,
Päivi Huhtinen

Päivi Huhtinen and her group of 5th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with Kaarina Losey and her 6th graders at Pioneer Park P.S. in Ontario, Canada.

Let's Go to Finland from Canada!

Here are the photos from the "Let's Go" project. We talked about being creative, and some of the basic ideas we knew of transporting items and goods. I showed them the basic shapes and left it very open ended. They were able to draw, cut and paste, anything. I asked for some labels to communicate their thinking and design choices. Some did more of that than others... :).

This was a really great opportunity for the students... I can't wait to do it again next year!

Have a Merry Christmas!
Kaarina

Kaarina Losey is the 6th grade teacher at Pioneer Park P.S. in Ontario, Canada.  Her group of artists are making and sharing art with the Päivi Huhtinen and her group of 5th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland.

Magic Clouds to Rainbow Machines!

I have felt warmly welcome every time I have been to Viertolan Koulu's 3rd grade class! They are so happy, talented and positive kids and they are lucky to have such a good teacher: Maija Pitko. For a Christmas present I had lovely small concert from kids and Maija!  Also, we had Tatjana Knudsen´s wonderful class in Denmark as our pair in Dear you-project. Thank you for everybody! 

In the Let's Go! project we made inventions of all sorts! Check out the pictures of some of these ingenious ideas!

Eliisa

Soap bubble machine

Soap bubble machine (the pink one)

Rainbow Machine

You can drive through that to Denmark and there is station in the end.

Magic Cloud

Cloud that flies and moves with propellers that are made out of school pencils. You can also have a Christmas tree there!

Game controller

You can move to different places by using it and playing with it. 

Eliisa Sorvali, Dear You Workshop Leader, and the 3rd grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in, Vantaa, Finland are making and sharing art with the 3rd grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark. 

We did that?! Woo hoo!

We got a message from Stephanie Giltrap, the teacher of our Dear You friends in Vietnam, that they have made a display of our artworks at their school.  The kids all felt so proud of themselves that they saw their artworks on somebody else's wall.  Amazing!  Next Tuesday we will be Skyping with them and making another project to mail to them on Thursday.  This project titled ‘Let’s Go!’ is about coming up with our own inventions on how to travel to visit our friends in a far away place.  Everything is possible!

Love,
Arlene & K1

K1 is a group of 4 year old artists from International School of Helsinki in Finland.  They are making and exchanging art with the Tigers, a group of 4 year olds from Just Kids School in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Looking towards the horizon in Estonia

Töös osalesid lapsed vanuses 4-5 aastat: 6 poissi. Tööprotsess neile meeldis. Eriti see, et sai valida mitmesuguste pliiatsijoonte vahel, millega pind täita. Vaatasime rühmaaknast välja ja leidsime oma silmapiiri - taevas ja maa. Sellest tulenevalt ka värvid sinine ja roheline. Laste jaoks oli põnev koht, et piltidest kokku tekkis justkui pikk maastik orgude ja kõrgndikega - meie Lõuna-Eesti maastik.

Ja meile õpetajatele, mulle ja Lissile, meeldib lastega kunsti teha ja seda protsessi kõrvalt nautida.

Aitäh meie igapäevaelu rikastamise eest!

Inge

***

Most of kids from our pre-school have viruses, therefore only half of the group is together. 6 boys, aged 4-5 years participated at the project. They loved the process. Specially, that they could choose between different pencil lines with what to fill the surface. We looked out from window and found our horizon- sky and earth. From there the colours: blue and green. It was also interesting for kids that pictures together made long spanning landscape, with valleys and heights- our Southern Estonian landscape. 

And for teachers, to me and Lissi, we love making arts with children and enjoy the process. 

Thank you for enriching our everyday life!

Inge

Thanks to Evelyn Müürsepp for the English translation!

There is the horse carriage, penny-farthing, and ...

Here are a few pictures that show Tatjana Knudsen's 3rd graders working on their vehicles for the project titled Let's Go!. It has been an interesting process. 

Before my students worked on their own we talked about how our actual daily transportation from one place to another. We talked about modern transportation like busses, trains, cars, planes, bicycles, motorbikes, and mopeds, and older ways as horse carriage, penny-farthing, and horses.

Afterwards I told my students to sketch any sort of vehicle they could imagine to transport. I also told them to use geometric shapes and either primary colors  or secondary colors.

The pictures attached show the process, and some of the pictures also show discussion and cooperation, which I really like.

All my best to you, your family, and friends :)

Tatjana Knudsen

The 3rd Grade artists from Korsholm Skole in Hinnerup, Denmark are making and sharing art with the 3rd Grade artists from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Hooray! We got a school in India and we sent our 2 projects today, we look forward to see our friends’ work in India.

Children were surprised to see the Pop-up cards and when we introduced them that they will make their own places for their puppets which they did before, they immediately start to think and ask questions about it. Some of the children wanted to choose 1 or 2 different house(s) and did their own decoration for the place. Some of them remembered that they made an animal as an imaginary friend so they preferred to do designed it by drawing the animal houses and the details.

We enjoyed making pop-up places for our imaginary friends and we hope you’ll like them as much as we do!

We wish you a “Happy New Year”.

Warm regards,
Dynamic Dinosaurs.

he 4-5 year old Dynamic Dinosaur artists from Açı Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey are making and sharing art with the young artists from Praxis Foundation in Mysore, India.

I can see so many things from my backyard

The children used colored pencil to create a landscape of the view from the back of their house, the front of their house or the their school. They were told to blend the colored pencils and work quickly with big strokes and pressing hard. We wrote a quick message and folded them like a screen that could be put behind their puppet and pop-up stage. So the background drawing is the environment where they live.

Kathleen Finan

Kathleen Finan, the art teacher at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Texas, USA, and her 4th Grade students are making and sharing art with the 4th Graders from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.

Let's go to Texas! How are we going to get there?

During our last session in Vantaa, we talked about how far Texas was, and what are different ways we can get there. We discussed how different types  of transport function, what are their essential elements - wings, wheels, steering, motor, etc, and what spaces they need - water, air, road surface. The artists suggested combining several vehicles to make the most efficient and environmentally friendly machines. From the cutout shapes, some with elements made from the leftover paper, the kids made hybrid submarines, steel traveling animals, and a jumping automobile, besides a few Finnair and one Emirates airplanes. Together we added important things like Start and Stop buttons!

Greeting from the Emerald Isle,
A xxx

Anastasia Artemeva is the Dear You Workshop Leader for the 4th grade class at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.  They are making and sharing art with Kathleen Finan's 4th graders at Heath Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas, USA.

Kalinka artists share and care : )

In the last workshop the Siilit group from Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland made a collective image about their environment. This time we used very simple materials: pencil, eraser and white sheets of paper.

I think they are always eager about the workshops. During the workshop, kids are usually divided into two groups because some speak only Russian and some only Finnish. I think it would be nice to have a Skype call, so that the kids could see who they are sending their works to. Of course, they realize this, but I think it would be nice to see each other too.

The children liked a lot the received mail from their Dear You friends in Mooste, Estonia. I showed them the works of Mooste Preschool's kids.

Kristina Laine

Kristina Laine and her 4-5 year old artists at Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with Evelyn Müürsepp and her 4-5 year old artists in Mooste Preschool in Mooste, Estonia.

The Tigers work together to create a beautiful atmosphere!

Together we connected the dots to draw lines that created a collective piece of art.  We first asked each other, "What can be found in the ocean?" "What can be found on land?" "What can be found in the air?".  From that we let our imaginations go and painted all the possibilities.

Afterwards when we put all of our individual paintings together to make one long Shared Atmosphere, we got out the Pop Up Homes and Puppets that the Puppies in Vietnam had made for us.  We were coming up with some great stories of why our friend lives in their home and how their environment can make them feel happy, sad, or silly!

Thank you, Puppies for making and sharing art with us.  We hope you like our artwork too!

With love,
Arlene and The Tigers

The Tigers from Your School in Espoo, Finland are 4 years old.  They are making and sharing art with the 4 year old Puppies who are artists going to Just Kids School in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The Inquisitive Monkeys!

One great thing about making and sharing art is that is brings out the inquisitive side in us.  We can surely see that it has for the Monkeys at Your School in Espoo, Finland.  During the November project, Shared Atmosphere, so many questions came up about our friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.

The Monkeys would like to know from the Full Moonstoners:

Is your country nice?
What is your favorite food that you get in school?
What are you favorite colors?
How much do you like to be in school?
Do you like our pictures?
Can you write something about your picture?
How cold is it in Philadelphia?
What do you like about your school?
What are your teacher's names and are they nice to you?
How big is Philadelphia?
Do you get any free play?

These questions came up whilst we were painting our atmosphere.  We got into smaller groups and divided our landscape into ocean life and land and air.  You'll find all animals, vegetation, and ways of getting from Helsinki to Philadelphia!

Thanks for sharing with us!

With love,
Arlene and The Monkeys

Exploring Finland from Vietnam

The children are so excited to begin the next project! They ask me everyday when we will make something new for our friends in Finland. So bringing this project to them brought on a lot of excitement in the classroom.

I started by drawing a person, and a house and then we started talking about what else we can draw. I was met with suggestions of trees, and a sun and many other things from our environment. We then started a discussion about Finland and what the environment looks like there.

I then showed them 2 videos of Finland. We saw the beautiful long summer days and the long, cold winter nights. We were mesmerised by the beautiful northern lights. "I want to travel to Finland!", "I want to LIVE in Finland!".

So then we discussed what we did see in the videos of the Finnish environment. I showed them their next project and they were very eager to begin. Many stars and lots of snow, hot suns and water for boats. I was getting a lot of comments about the environment they were drawing, so, most of the pictures have small descriptions for our new friends to read. We also had the world map up on display for the children to be reminded of. The kids loved finding some of the new countries they are learning about!

We stuck them all together and followed our environment line from end to end. What a beautiful product! 

We hope you enjoy our artwork. It comes with a lot of love!
Teacher Steph, the Tiger Cubs and Puppies.

Below are pictures of the Puppies's Shared Atmosphere collective painting. The 4 year old Puppies from Just Kids in Hanoi, Vietnam are making and sharing art with the artist Tigers at Your School in Espoo, Finland.

Below are pictures of the Tiger Cub's Shared Atmosphere collective painting project. The 4 year old Tiger Cubs at Just Kids are friends with the K1 artists at International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland. Exciting!! 

Imagine Me with Praxis Foundation in Mysore, India

Kashyap imagined an 'Ice Dragon' in Finland. He strongly believes that there still are massive dragons, like those of yore, hiding deep in the frozen forests and mountains in Finland. 

Janak started with the idea of making a female 'Yeti', he spoke a lot about it and finally got to the make Yeti instead.   

Shayan is from Maldieves, and is quite fascinated with the Indian traditions,  so he made this marriage couple fully decorated puppet.  This is the kind of wedding that he wants to have!!!

Laisa is attracted to water like a fish, when on field trips she refuses to get out of the water hole. Her favorite animal is a fish. She has a lovely fish tank at home and takes care of all the fish pretty well.  She started making a mermaid but then changed her mind to make a fish puppet. 

Taara is found of animals, expecially dino's, she had recently watched the Jurassic world with her parents and wanted to make a 'Steggi' puppet, this dino is a friendly, grass eating dino that helps humans when they are lost in the forest. 

Taara also made a 'Jolly Dolphin' which is, according to her the princess of the ocean.  That is why her skin is all shining and glowing.  Like the dino the dolphin in a friendly creature who speaks with children and plays with them on the beach.  Jolly even takes children for a free ride on the waves.   

Manjunath is fascinated by the traditional Dasara Festival that happened in Mysore in October and wanted to reproduce the heavily decorated animals that were paraded around the Mysore Palace on the 10th of October.  He particularly liked the veeerytall donkeys and farming oxen that were paraded.  These animals were brought into Mysore especially for the Dasara Festival from the northern part of Karnataka state.  

Manha is a 6 year old girl child who loves DORA and here adventures, she believes that she is on a wild trip with DORA while making the puppet. She was all chatty and explaining to the rest of them the things that she and her friend were together discovering together.  

Sharil was horrified by the Dasara Puppets that were on display for 10 days in Mysore and which were burnt down to indicate the victory of Good over Evil.  She wanted to share this demon character from the Ramayana (Hindu Mythology) who kidnaps a King called Rama's wife to an island which is today's SriLanka, with all her friends in Finland.  She has a message as well BEWARE!!!!!!!

Kishore is a Class II child who is always looking for something interesting.  Recently he discovered the story of Ganesha, who was punished by his own father but saved by his mother. Ganesha is his most favourite character from the Indian Children's Stories.  Kishore believes that Ganesha can read and write at great speed because of his large head and long trunk.  He thinks that Ganesha can also listen to two people at the same time because he has elephant ears. 

Nandana is a Grade I child and her friend is a flying witch. This friend of her's is a special witch as she is able to fly around the whole world with Nandana on her back. So Nandana comes to school even flying on her back!!!  

Palguni made this humming bird puppet, which is carrying a pretty dried twig to build its nest.  Palguni was on a field trip from school where she saw a lot of bee-eaters making nest on tall coconut trees. She was inspired by this and wanted to make a humming bird puppet which she finds very colorful.

The artists from Praxis Foundation in Mysore, India are making and sharing art with the 4-5 year old Dynamic Dinosaurs from Açı Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey.

A soft pillow for our sleepy friends

The puppets need a place to stay. How could that look like? Many came up with the idea of a house. We talked about how far away the puppets had to travel to come to us so we put them immediately in bed as they were tired...:-)

The pop up technique was familiar to some of them and they asked for little instructions and worked more independently. It was a fun experience for all of all.

Best regards, 
Lusine

The 4-5 year olds from Kita Felix and Friends in Berlin, Germany are making and sharing art with The Smart Squirrels, a group of 4 year olds from Açı Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey.