Saying so much through art works!

We received the package from South Africa today – and the kids were so relieved, they have been waiting for so long, they said.

It also took more time than we thought to finish the home´s project.  But the kids loved it so much, some of them put more than their family members on the picture like some zombies (might be an influence from computer games). On most of them you can see that the children are thinking about summer, even cherry-trees (which don´t grow here) are in one garden.

All the best,
Halla and Guðný

The 1st and 2nd graders from Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the preschoolers from Oakdale Preschool in Cape Town.

We took a picture today of the kids playground, we have had snow today.

Exploring what a home means to us

We started by asking ourselves what home means to us. Then we went outside and in pairs, pretended we were visiting each other's homes. We described our homes, what they look like, what is outside in our gardens, playground, etc. then we came back in the classroom. We closed our eyes and imagined we were coming home from school. What does our front door look like? Do we live in a villa or apartment building? What is outside our home? We thought about these details and then began by making a drawing of our homes. Half way through class we came together and shared a few drawings. We made positive comments and then added one or two things that we thought could be added to the drawings shown, like the people who live in the home, the number of the house, etc. we also talked about what makes Dubai different from other places. What types of trees do we have (Palm and others), are the shapes of our roofs and villas unique? Then we went back to our seats and added more details. In the second class we reviewed our drawings and used them to help us create the pop up card in color.

Thank you,
Liz

Below are photos of KG2E art works.

KG2E class from Collegiate American School in Dubai, United Arab Emirates are making and sharing art with the Tigers from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

Below are selected artworks from KG2D.

KG2D are making and sharing art with the Monkeys. The young artists are 4-6 years old.

Our rooms in our house

The pop up house was interesting! We hadn't done anything like this before so we had practice at cutting scrap paper first.

The children were very excited to represent their lives through a room in their house and tried hard to find things from a catalogue that looked like their furniture. They like making their room come to life and it sparked a conversation about different kinds of beds!

The 5 and 6 year old artists in Class 1 at Sneinton C of E Primary School in Nottingham, England are making and sharing art with the 4 to 6 years olds in KG2B at Collegiate American School in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

We are larger than life!

Toti, Zeynab and the Tigers were getting ready to create pop ups! They could not wait to show me and their friends in Dubai the dinosaur helmets they made!

We started the workshop with taking a mental journey to our home. What do you we see in the living room? Which couch do we like to snuggle up on? How does that couch feel? After taking a tour we looked closely at different kinds of texture. We then practiced different drawing techniques on how to create texture.  Putting all of our knowledge together we created our pop-up homes that tried to capture what we like the most in the place we feel at peace.

Nit: A chair I use to relax. All my family can sit on it. It's gray, black and white and it's very smooth.

Neh: I have a sofa in my living room I use to relax and watch tv. It's made of hard cushions. I also have an eating chair.

Raf: I have a soft bed with pillows. My home is very colorful.

Vih: I have a gym room in my home where my mommy keeps my cloths. I have a toy dinosaur that is rough and I play with it.

Ume: My home has a seat in the living room. We eat there. Our seat is big. It's cold and icy, it's blue and yellow. We have pictures of stars, moons, and snowflakes.

Pau: This is my sofa. It's in my living room and it's white. It's a little bit hard and it's made of wood.

Adr: In my home there is a sofa in the middle and there are some decorations on the carpet. The sofa has white, red, green and brown decorations on it. The sofa is made of wood and has comfortable cushions.

Dha: This is my home when I was a baby. The sofa was brought by my mom and dad. And while my big sister was at school I always sat on the sofa with my mommy. The sofa is brown. It was soft and comfortable, but now it's a bit old.

Lil: This is my kitchen where I eat food. There are 2 chairs. One is my sister Elle's and the other one is mine. My chair is made out of wood and some soft material.

Ath: Here is my living room. There is a big tv and black curtains. We sit on the ground and chairs. The ground is soft and brown. I like to sit on the ground to watch tv.

Welcome, friends, to our home!

With love,
The Tigers, Arlene, Toti, and Zeynab

The 4-5 year old Tigers from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing with the 4-6 year olds in KG2E from Collegiate American School in Dubai, U.A.E. 

The Tigers are a team of great storytellers!

I see snow, cars, sun and a whole lot of adventures in these string stories by the Tigers! The Tigers soon figured out how to use the string to add texture and volume to their colored pencil drawings. Each one tells so much about themselves. I'm sure their friends in Vietnam will love these pieces of art!

The Monkeys String their way to India!

The Monkeys are super excited about meeting their new friends in Mysore, India! Since this is their first piece of art to exchange, some of the Monkeys were trying new visual techniques on how to bring our worlds together.  For example, Niklas and Lotta drew the Indian flag and Finnish flag on their paintings.  Patrick and Hartti drew games that they like to play.  Everybody enjoyed sharing a part of themselves with their new friends!

Making a Tree of Life with the help of String

The string collages from the 6th grader artists in Odder, Denmark to Texas, USA are in the mail!

Line, their teacher, said, "The students had a great time making their string collages. At first they found the task a bit strange, but when they started to think about what was important to them, they quickly got a lot of ideas and made some great collages."

Stringing together Valentine's Day and Carnival!

The Cats in Vienna have been up to some lovely thoughts and artwork!

Simone, their teacher, wrote:
My children loved to work with this new material, the wool. I told them to make some pictures of something they love. So they can share it with their partners. Also, we talked about people we love.

Children love their parents and their families, also their animals. Important is the fact we can love someone because he is doing something good, he is helping us and very important: he is playing with us. :) And he has to be very nice.

What can we do for people we love? You can write a love letter, you can paint something, you can give flowers.

Best wishes,
Simone and her cats

Stories tell you so much

The 4th and 5th grade artists from Mooste Põhikool  in Estonia have a lot to tell their new friends in Arivu School in Mysore, India.  I can sense closeness to the family and to their surroundings.  I think our world is feeling warmer from these string collages.  Thank you!

Happy Stories from Belgium: )

Here are some photos of the String Stories from the Pre-K group at Antwerp International School in Belgium!

Naomi, their teacher said, "We are doing a unit on feelings, so I asked the kiddos to think of a time or story that makes them happy and then create their ideas with string."

I think their friends at Moonstone Preschool in USA are going to be super happy with these shiny stories!

The Solar System strings us together!

Hi,

We had a great time doing the February Dear You art project.  We have been focusing on the solar system and talking about how we are connected to everything, so the project tied in perfectly with our curriculum! We have also been working on sharing and teamwork, so each piece was a collective effort.  

Have a great day,
Michelle

The 5 years old at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, PA, USA is making and exchanging artwork with Pre-Kindergarteners at The International School of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium.