The perfect picnic!

How happy we were when the table cloth arrived! It is a beautiful piece – and the fish is so appropriate because here we love fish and Siglufjörður is famous for fish industry (herring industry) in the past. And also now, although we don´t fish herring still. We have already had picnic twice and used that beautiful tablecloth, as you can see on the pictures. It was quite a good idea to have the names of the kids on the cloth, then their friends could sit at the „right“ place.

All the projects in the Dear you work have been inspiring and brought out creative thinking – good for both children and teachers. We would be happy to take part next year, it would be better not to start in August/Sept. .... maybe January would be good for us like this year. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids, but teachers will be working until 9th of June.

Thank you Kathleen and Arlene!

All the best,
Halla and Guðný.

The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.

A beautiful place for your meal!

Printmaking and putting it to use is not only fun, but so rewarding for everybody. In this case, the Texans' friend in Iceland will enjoy their food even more when looking at such lovely designs!

Kathleen Finan and her group of 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas are making and sharing with the 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland.

Abstract paintings from Texas

We enjoyed creating our abstract painting, without using a brush, while listening to music. We were unable to walk around and find natural items to paint with so I put out drinking straws, Q-tips, and wooden popsicle sticks to paint with.  We listened to the music then I demonstrated a few ways to use our new painting tools. The children had a fun time listening to the music and painting.

Kathleen Finan

The 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas are making and sharing with the 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland.

From Iceland to Texas, with love!

Here are pictures of the work, tomorrow the books will be sent to Texas.  The kids have had much fun doing the books. They introduced their book to the class, keeping it a secret which food they had chosen. The class was guessing and they were very excited, and in the end the secret came out.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to take part in this, and it is also great to see it on Facebook.

Love, Halla and Guðný

The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.

I can see so many things from my backyard

The children used colored pencil to create a landscape of the view from the back of their house, the front of their house or the their school. They were told to blend the colored pencils and work quickly with big strokes and pressing hard. We wrote a quick message and folded them like a screen that could be put behind their puppet and pop-up stage. So the background drawing is the environment where they live.

Kathleen Finan

Kathleen Finan, the art teacher at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Texas, USA, and her 4th Grade students are making and sharing art with the 4th Graders from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.

From Texas to England, here we go!

Kathleen Finan and her 2nd graders at  Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas are ready to snail mail their first exchange of Dear You artworks to their new friends at Sneinton St Stephen's C of E Primary School in Nottingham, UK.

Their Self Portrait Puppets are full of personality!