Artist Trading Cards (ATC) are a win!

Kathleen Finan, the art teacher at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas has been making Artist Trading Cards (ATC) with her artists.  They have just sent these to their Dear You friends in Nottingham, UK!  

Kathleen wrote, "The students wrote holiday greetings on the back of these ATC scratchboards.  I bought these glitter scratchboards for the holidays, sometimes I make them with the kids.  The candy bags had 3 ATCs in them telling their favorite holidays when candy is given."

What a treat!  Not only did the artists make Candy Bags for the October project, but also ATCs!

Go ahead and try this out with your artists :)

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Mmm... Margot and other Czech sweets!

Our second meeting with students  from Central Point International Elementary School in Prague, Czech Republic was the most difficult workshop we have had together so far. I started the lesson by showing short examples from the history of still lifes to the students; the works from Rembrandt, Picasso, Warhol,etc. I explained what a still life is and how the authors were trying to get closer to depicting the reality by using all their senses.

Afterwards, I put  candy in the middle of the working table and told the students that instead of eating the candy we will use them as tools [that is why I told them at the beginning that this is going to be the most difficult workshop so far]. We first drew the packages of all the sweets on look through paper and than we used the actual candy to „paint with them the smell“ of the different kinds of Candy we have in the Czech Republic. So hopefully you will smell the Margot (famous Czech candy) in Finland soon.

It was a really great afternoon and the concept of our class also inspired other teachers from Central Point School.  In the end, the students looked really amazed what they were able to create and I enjoyed both the lesson and the results of their work.  

- Rudolf Samohejl

Belgian Chocolate for Halloween sounds good to me :)

Naomi Kite, the Pre K teacher at The International School of Antwerp, and her artists have created beautiful Candy Bags for Halloween!  

Naomi said, "They chose lots of lollipops with fantastical figures on them (I think these might be imagined lollipops, no one could exactly tell me if you could buy these in a store) and Belgian chocolates of many varieties. : )"

They will share these with their friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.

Sweet Times at Helsinki's English School

Have you ever eaten a small black square that tastes like salt and medicine? Well, it's called Salmiakki and it's considered quite a treat here in Finland.

This time in our Dear You workshop we shared delicious tastes and sweet sights as we made candy arc pop-up cards for our friends in Prague.

We drew some candy and glued our art on our pop up card arcs. Then we described in writing what our pictured candy tastes like. Some of our candies were real while others were make believe. They all looked pretty delicious to me!

Everyone can enjoy these sweets, even the ones who are missing a sweet tooth. I hope they munch these sweets up with their eyes back in Prague!

- Nooralotta Ikonen
http://laiskia.blogspot.fi

Taiwanese Artists in Action!

Alen and Jessica from U.S.Kids in Taipei are busy creating their candy bags!  They are getting ready for their Skype session with their new friends in Prague.

The Happy Cats from Vienna!

The Cats in Vienna, Austria are curious about their new partners, the Lumileopardit group in Vantaa, Finland. Simone Zobl said, "They are very proud and happy."  It looks it!

Randlevskolen working on "Sweets for you"

Tatjana Knudsen and her 4th & 5th grade artists are full of energy after their Efterårsferie holiday! 

"They were very creative and concentrated while they were working on their candy bags. This project lead us to a wonderful talk about the words "candy", which is American and the word "sweets", which is English. I think that all my students now know the difference between the two words.

THIS really is a wonderful way to mix art and language learning."

- Tatjana Knudsen

The Tigers are Sweet!

Not only are the Tigers sweet, but they have a sweet tooth and sweet sense of humor!  It was fun talking with them about what kind of candy they like and when they give candy to their friends and families.  Aleksi likes Salmiakki like a good Finn!  

I'm not too sure if their friends in Vietnam can even imagine what Salmiakki tastes like!  Toti, that's going to be an interesting challenge for you to explain :).

This topic started some great stories on the candy bags they sewed together.  For example, Vilma said, "I drew raining lollipops!" Ida and many of the other Tigers drew ice cream and cookies for their friends.  Using autumn leaves the Tigers picked up from the forest adds a beautiful touch to their artwork too!

This was the first time The Tigers practiced writing their new friend's names on their bag.  I'm sure everybody is excited for their next meeting on Skype!

I know I am!
- Arlene Tucker