They loved the process of weaving. It was difficult and required a lot of concentration, which they loved to have. Once they understood the mechanics of the activity it was easy for them to repeat the pattern. Some of them struggled with the activity, but it was amazing to see how they asked for help and their friends helped them. Amazing teamwork!
7 years old
Light traveling with our artist friends in Korea
2023, 5 years old, 6 years old, 7 years old, KoreaComment나를 찾아. Finding me.
2023, KoreaCommentSampling, sounds, and storytelling for their friends in Finland
2020, 8 years old, 9 years old, Collective Art, Finland, Mixed age group, United KingdomCommentAlethea and Sigi have been working on these pieces inspired by the ‘collaging’ in the last project as well as their experiences over the recent lockdowns. They have experimented with making sounds with what was available to them, banging together pebbles, using hairbrushes to play the ukekele, using their voices as instruments and playing each other their favourite piano pieces.
Intrigue, Identity and Illuminating words
2020, Finland, United KingdomCommentOn being unique- from molecules to ancestry
2020, Finland, Mixed age group, United KingdomCommentOh my! Our first package has arrived!
2018, Finland, USA, 1st GradeComment
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.
Draw or write what you hear
2018, China, FinlandComment
During the third project students were asked to listen to audio recordings from their friends in China. They were instructed to draw or write anything they heard that sounded like a word that was familiar to them. They could use Swedish, Finnish, and English words for the listening exercise. As we listened students, wrote words that they heard or that came to mind and drew pictures to accompany the words. When the listening exercises was over the students used mixed methods of collage and coloring to complete their images. Using bits cut from maps they created lines connecting their images to one another. They really enjoyed listening to what their friends had to say. Thanks so much to our friends in China! We really enjoyed collaborating with you on this project!
Sincerely,
Rachel Kangas
The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.
The artists from Linguajoy translate their environment and Easter!
2018, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, ChinaComment
Our third Dear You project took place during the week leading up to Easter vacation. The students were asked to create a Easter eggs and while working they discussed their activities and what their environment looked like.
The first group was a bit shy but we discussed what we were going to say and even rehearsed saying it a few times before we created our recordings. The second group of students were very excited to describe their environment and discuss their families Easter traditions.
Sincerely,
Rachel Kangas
The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.