Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project
The children loved this assignment!
How to fold and cut and which way to crease the paper was a great experience for the children.
The kids love the assignments and your projects inspire them to look for various art work with attention to how that particular art work is made. They think as artists.
Thank you,
Dance A. Vasileska
The 4th graders from Ryerson Public School in Cambridge, Canada are making and sharing art with the 10 years olds from Kepa School in Karelia, Russia.
As a class we visited the website of Robert Sabuda and examined some of his more complicated designs, and how he used different techniques to create “pop-up” art, or art that was three-dimensional. I showed them the basic, fold and parallel snip technique to make individual tabs for items.
Students were tasked with creating their favourite place/setting, whether it is their home, their bedroom, an imaginary place, or some other location. Their place/setting had to incorporate some pop-up or three-dimensional features. The rest of the task was up to their individual artistic interpretation.
Students had very mixed reactions when starting this project. Some were very excited, and some intimidated. Others seemed very confused with the actual construction process, and went through several pieces of paper until they figured out what worked, and how to put it all together. Students were encouraged to do a bit of planning and try different techniques, and most took the time to do that, with excellent results!
These projects will hopefully arrive in Finland shortly! Feel free to check out the different techniques that students used to create the pop-up and three-dimensional artworks when they arrive! Click here to see the full presentation.
Kaarina Losey
Kaarina Losey is the 6th grade teacher at Ryerson P.S. in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Her group of artists are making and sharing art with the Päivi Huhtinen and her group of 6th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland.
All the Monkeys were very eager to share what their homes are like. What a welcoming bunch of artists! We described what our homes look like, what kind of textures we can find there, even what kind of smells would be cooking in the kitchen. We got us really inspired was thinking about what part of our home is the most comforting. Using pop-up techniques, collage, and drawing we recreated our favorite part of our home!
Ka: This is my panda lying down on the sofa. The curtains and windows are here. There are two doors at my house. The house is white.
Ol: THis is my teddy bear. I have a sofa, door, and my house is brown.
Aa: I have a tv and a painting on the wall.
No: There is dust in my home. There are chairs and tables.
Cs: I have a couch and my dad and brother are at home. I see the table, bedroom, and my toys.
Iu: I have a table and my dolls, my computer, my toy cat, my pencils, sofa and chair, and fish.
Er: My couch, carpet, and door.
Ak: I have lamps, carpet, sofa and a teddy bear.
Lu: I see the sky and the tv and chairs.
We hope our friends in Dubai like our artwork and welcome to Finland!
With love,
The Monkeys, Arlene, Ben, and Atefeh
The 6 year old Monkeys from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing with the 4-6 year olds in KG2D from Collegiate American School in Dubai, U.A.E.
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.
When we realised that the topic on 'Building a Home' has come up again after Lay of the Land, there was a room for doubt about how differently children might react to the same theme with little twist in the provocations.
Our children gave physical descriptions of their homes by talking about the shapes and surfaces and made comparisons with their peers'.
During our whole group meeting, children shared about how they could connect all their pop-up homes and make a City not realising that it was the intention of the Author too.
Interviewing each child based on the suggested questions gave us an insight about individuality in their thinking. Creating a pop-up home encouraged children to think about dimensions in their homes. They loved it.
Your home says so much about you. What is your home like? Is it in an apartment complex or is it a single building with a garden? What do the surfaces of your home feel like? Think about others who live in this home. What if you could fold up your home and take it everywhere with you? What parts of your home would you want to carry with you on your travels?
Avinaash: My house has a rectangle roof. There is an automatic door too. There is another door which you need to use the key to open. It is a single building with a garden. The floor usually feels cold. My daddy, Mummy, me and my brother and my Grandmother stay with me. I would love to take my plane room along with me wherever I go. There are many toys in that room.
Jing Ru: My house has a rectangle roof. There is a gate at the garden. There is a staircase near the garden. The staircase will take us to the shoe-rack where we put our shoes. It is a single building with a medium sized garden. My Mummy, Daddy, me and my two aunties stay there. I have a very big dog too. I would like to carry my playroom along with me where ever I go. It makes me feel happy.
Emilia: My home has a dining area and there is where you walk then you see the study room and then you can see my room and then my Mummy’s and Daddy’s room. I have a balcony. I have a tricycle out at the balcony and a small scooter and one balance bike. I live in a condominium where many people stay in one building. There are three swimming pools at my place. My sofa feels soft. My floor feels hard. I would love to bring my room wherever I go because it makes me happy.
Caitlin: My house has lots of pointy things outside. The driveway of the hall is cracking. It is very old. There are rectangular windows on the first floor which are very big. They don’t have grills. You can just unlock it by pulling something up that makes a click sound and slide the window. I feel that my home is bigger than the school but I don’t think so because it only has two levels. I would love to bring my toy room along with me wherever I go because it has many toys. I have got a lot of games to play with you.
Jiang Xi Wen: There are many trees near my house. When I take the lift, I see some lights in the lift. Once the door opens you need to walk to the house with the white door. When you open the door you will see my brother making a tree. He is making a decoration. My mummy, Daddy, brother and sister stay with me. I like to bring my kitchen wherever I go because there is so much fun in there. I can make bubbles in the kitchen by filling a cup with water and adding soap.
Aahan: My home is white and green. I live in a tall building together with other people. It also has other condos. My sofa is soft and the wall is hard. My floor has some kind of rock designs on it. My Mummy, Daddy, brother and aunty stay with me. My friend Etsa visits me sometimes. I like my bedroom the most and would like to take it along wherever I go. I have a bed which opens up. You can find some pillows, blankets and bed-sheets in there.
Oliver: There is one bed for my Papa and Mama and one bed for my sister and a bed for me. I have one big pool and two small swimming pools. My sister likes to play in the toy room. The toys are supposed to be in the living room but they are on my bed. There is a garden next to my home. My floor is smooth and white. I would love to take my toy room wherever I go. I can play the toys. But when it is time for us to go out, we cannot play.
Lin Jia Wen: I live with my Mom, Dad, brother and my aunty. My sofa feels rough. My floor is white. But the floor in my Mummy’s room is brown. My brother’s room and my room are also brown. My house is in a tall building. Other people also stay in the building. There is a car park outside my house. My Mummy parks her car there. I like my room the most. I would like to bring my room wherever I go because my Mummy allows me to draw on my own room wall.
Jordan: My house is like a nature park because there are many flowers and plants growing in my garden. My Mom and uncle grow them. My Daddy, Mummy, sister and aunty stay in my house. I have two pet dogs and one cat. My cat is a good climber. You will see my door and staircase when you enter my house. I have a baby doll in my room. I would like to bring my bike wherever I go.
Advaith: In my living room, the floor has got some square patterns. In my room, the flooring is similar to those in my classroom, wood floor, goldenish brown. The walls are bumpy as though they have mini mountains on the walls. My parents share the home with me. My house is on level three but there are people living above my level. I would love to bring my own bedroom wherever I go because it is so full of toys (although it is not possible).
Julian: My bedroom has powder, body-cream and toys. I also have train tracks and trains. My floor has square patterns and marks on it. My wall is smooth and white. My sofa’s armrest is hard. The back part is also hard. The bottom is cushion and is so soft. My Mummy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, Tita, Oli and Kristin share the home with me. I have a muslin blanket on my bed to smell and fall asleep.
Zhu Yu Hang: My house has a lift. I live on the third floor. I have to take the lift everyday to go back home. My house is grey. There is swimming pool down stairs. There is a toy in my house. It is my favourite. It is a rocket. I take it wherever I go.
Warm Regards,
Rachel & Nan Nan
The 3-4 year old artists from EtonHouse Bilingual Pre-school in Singapore are making and sharing art with the 3-4 year old artists from Oakdale Montessori Preschool in Cape Town, South Africa.
This project went great, kids were really excited about their houses popping out of the paper and they got magazines cut outs to accessorize and try to make it as similar as possible.
Mrs. Vicke Benavides
The 6 year olds in Prepri C from Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico are making and sharing art with the 4-6 year olds in KG2C from Collegiate American School in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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.
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.
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.
Hooray! We got a school in India and we sent our 2 projects today, we look forward to see our friends’ work in India.
Children were surprised to see the Pop-up cards and when we introduced them that they will make their own places for their puppets which they did before, they immediately start to think and ask questions about it. Some of the children wanted to choose 1 or 2 different house(s) and did their own decoration for the place. Some of them remembered that they made an animal as an imaginary friend so they preferred to do designed it by drawing the animal houses and the details.
We enjoyed making pop-up places for our imaginary friends and we hope you’ll like them as much as we do!
We wish you a “Happy New Year”.
Warm regards,
Dynamic Dinosaurs.
he 4-5 year old Dynamic Dinosaur artists from Açı Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey are making and sharing art with the young artists from Praxis Foundation in Mysore, India.
The puppets need a place to stay. How could that look like? Many came up with the idea of a house. We talked about how far away the puppets had to travel to come to us so we put them immediately in bed as they were tired...:-)
The pop up technique was familiar to some of them and they asked for little instructions and worked more independently. It was a fun experience for all of all.
Best regards,
Lusine
The 4-5 year olds from Kita Felix and Friends in Berlin, Germany are making and sharing art with The Smart Squirrels, a group of 4 year olds from Açı Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey.
