What am I? Oh what could I be?

We first started the workshop by playing a riddle game.  This got our brains thinking about how can we tell things about an object without giving it away!  From there we went into the world of senses and on this adventure- it was all about taste!  We thought about what foods are local to Nordic countries and what foods are not.  It seems that most of Your School's artists love picking berries from the beautiful forests of Finland!  Can you guess what the Monkeys' and the Tigers' favorite foods are?

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

The Monkeys at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the Full Moons from Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, PA.

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

K1 and their adventurous imaginary friends!

What fun K1 had making our Imagine Me puppets for our new friends in Vietnam!  We first looked at the map of the globe and came up with all different ways of how one could travel from Finland to Vietnam. Aashrit was so thoughtful and said we could spend one night in his home in India. India is a bit of a detour from Finland, but we can make it happen!

We then thought about what kind of companion we would like to go on our adventure with. This friend would then be developed into our Imagine Me puppet. From the looks of these artworks, K1 is a creative bunch who are ready an exciting journey! As you can see, collaging came quite naturally for them too.

J made a Micky Mouse bumblebee. 
KS likes to surprise his puppet by saying, "boo!". His friend likes to jump and drive a car.
A said, "this is my happy face!".
S's friend can read everything and do what people can't do like twist his legs, take his hair off and put it back on. Oh, and he has sharp teeth.
Dsri gave hers a purple dress.
W named his friend Mark. Mark likes to read ten-ten books, has a beard, glasses, hands, feet, and is good at running.
F's new friend, Sarah, is happy! She likes running around, jumping, skipping, and puzzles.
AA's friend is named Nosey. Nosey is good at connecting the phones and also playing with legos and cooking.
N's bumblebee transformer can transform fast cars and motorcycles!
M's is called No Name.
K's imaginary friend is a boy.
D created a baby.
R's has a happy face and her name is Happy.
AN's is called Baby Andreas and he likes playing with toys.

We can't wait to meet our new friends from Vietnam!

With love,
K1 artists, Arlene, & Lydia

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

The Monkeys have made great travel companions for their friends at Moonstone Preschool

Ask the Monkeys for some travel advice and they will offer every kind of possibility! From buses to trains to rockets. This all came about when we were figuring out how our Imagine Me puppets are going to reach our new friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA. Finland is quite a ways from there, but we are up for an adventure!

As we were creating our puppets we thought about what makes a good friend and here are some things the Monkeys said about their imaginative artworks. Meet Seek. Seek is a good friend because "he helps me when I need help," says J. N's puppet's name is Elsa. "She's a good friend because she's nice to me." I's Stella is "fun and playing with everybody. Listening to the teacher and doing everything herself." E called her friend Rosey. "Rosey is nice. She helps me get the way out." A's puppet Super Savior "saves me when I'm in danger!" M's puppet is a boat named Oh No. When I asked M why Oh No is a good friend, she said, "She makes me laugh." I think that's one of the most important characteristics a friend should have too!

Thanks for the lovely afternoon, Monkeys!

With love,
Arlene

The Monkeys (6 years old) from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the Full Moons (5 years old) from Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA. 

I want to be friends with the Puppies from Vietnam and their puppets!

I introduced the project to my students using a map and a world globe. I spent some time explaining to them about their country, Vietnam and my country, Australia. 

I told them that I have some new friends, who are the same age as them and they live in a country called Finland. I told them the name of the class and the name of their school. 

I told them that we are going to make a piece of art and then we are going to put it on an airplane to go to our friends in Finland and then we will also get some art from our friends in Finland! They were so excited!

Our first project was about imaginary friends. We discussed things that are real and things that are not real, that are in our heads. They are from our imagination. We spent some time describing our imaginary friends. Are they tall or short, big or small, do they have wings or maybe they can run very fast. 

I showed them a puppet that I had made. And explained to them that we can make a puppet that is like the friends we can imagine! 

I gave them a small paper bag each and a bunch of other paper and materials to create their puppets. And I left them to it! 

I set up the camera and my laptop and I also involved them in the photo taking process. They loved it. A few of them made friends from their imaginations, others made characters that they love. We even have a minion, and an Incredible Hulk! 

In the next few months we will be learning about our town. So I will take that opportunity to teach them about the post office when we send our artworks. 

The children are so excited to receive their puppets from Finland! 

We also look forward to our second project!!

Thanks a lot. 

Love from Vietnam, 
Steph, the puppies and the tiger cubs.

Below are pictures of the Puppies's Imagine Me puppet! 

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!! 

Below are pictures of the Tiger's Imagine Me puppet! 

Imagine Me Puppets from Vantaa, Finland are on their way to Heath, Texas!

Today went really well!  We had so much fun and they all loved it!  We looked at the map to see where Texas is and had such a good time that we lost track of time.

The kids were making sketches in their notebooks and were so happy with their drawings, that we ended up photocopying them from the notebooks and then cutting them out from the photocopy, and then adding glitter and buttons.

The teacher, Riitta-Liisa at Viertolan Koulu is just amazing!

Anastasia Artemeva xx

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Anastasia Artemeva is the Dear You Workshop Leader for the 4th grade class at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.  This group of Finnish artists will be making and sharing art with Kathleen Finan's 4th graders at Heath Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.