From Canada to Finland- we are making connections!

These are the images of student vehicles that they created. They had the option to use any materials in the class or from home. They could create a real or fictional vehicle and describe whether it was for land, air or water travel.

A few students (large yellow wheels) and a long one with a parachute and green propeller actually wired them to operate (electricity was our first big project of the year).

Teacher Kaarina Losey

The 6th graders at Ryerson P.S. in Cambridge, ON, Canada are making and sharing art with the 6th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland.

Making shapes that move

After morning circle we looked at the works from our Helsinki friends, trying to understand what devices are depicted, how they move and what drives them. The kids got all excited to do their own vehicles. Everyone got a kit of 3 geometric shapes. We looked at them, named them and explored how can a rectangle be turned into a square, diamond into triangles and oval into half circles. The rule was that they can cut these shapes if they want (but only once and by halving them) and they can trade the shapes with their friends and add afterwards details with pens. Most of the kids started excitingly to work.

Markus: tank of Siim, it protects people from the baddies
Lauri: truck what carries miraculous sun sand
Ats: snowplough
Laas: one wheel train. for cat, ferret, mouse and birdies...
Matthias: horse pulls kings car
Mattias: tank what collects firewood for soldiers
Mona: crystal palace and princess bringing crystals
Eliise: estonian train, takes people from one place to another
Lotte-lisandra: flying car travelling to põlva (nearby town), my mummy waving to me because im going to buy her a bracelet
Henri: grandma and grandpa are taking post to avery usual castle
Ode: robot-butterfly is flying from blossom to blossom
Kar-kaarel: carbage truck what carries chocolate
Siim: cumputer tank what can be upgraded

best greetings,
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.

Vroom vroom chugga chugga beep beep

It was fun!  The kids made wonderful vehicles.  I think they were very eager about it.  We used color paper, glue, scissors and pencils. 

Many kids adapted the task to their ideas about what kind of vehicles they would like to make.  There was even a human character- vehicle and a sweet princess carriage :).  Some kids followed the instructions, while others improvised.  I had a book about all kinds of transport and I showed it to everybody. 

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.

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.

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.

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.