Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project
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!
Hello Dears,
In Finland Valentine's Day is Ystävänpäivä, which means Friend's Day :). The artists at Päiväkoti Lystilä in Vantaa decided to make woolly socks as part of the string theme AND sing a song for their friends at Evangelischen Volksschule am Karlsplatz, Vienna.
Lumileopards think woolly socks are great because:
- here in Finnish winter we really need warm socks!
- and like warm socks, a good friend is important and really necessary to move on!
- every kid can easily make and have their own stylish design and be proud of that too!
- there are always two socks in a pair. We are stronger together as opposed to just one!
HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY <3
Lumileopardit & A-M
And here is Anne-Marie Keckman's translation of the Woolly Sock Song:
MY FRIEND
MY FRIEND IS LIKE A WOOL SOCK, IT WARMS ME AT WINTER,
AND MY FRIEND IS LIKE A MELLOW FLOWER, MAKES ME A SMILE!
SO TAKE MY HAND AND FOLLOW ME TO THE STRAND, I WILL SHOW YOU HOW THE SUN GOES DOWN BEHIND THE TREES, PAINTING THE SKY RED.
I'M SO LITTLE AND NEED A GUIDE TO TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE THIS WORLD BETTER!
SOMEDAY, WHEN I AM GROWN UP I WISH THAT,
I NEVER STOP LEARNING!
You can try to sing it too! :D
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!
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.
Hello,
We have Christmas Holidays now and have been busy organizing happenings, presents and so on here in Vantaa, Finland. Thank you Simone and kids for your lovely posts. The kids got all those drawings you made!! They were so grateful and happy about that! This week we made a little surprise for your Christmas ... hope you will get it soon!
And there are also pics from our Party Room. We had a Winter theme where everyone could use their 5 senses.
Beautiful holidays to you all and Merry Christmas.
Love from Snowleopards and Anne-Marie
The Monkeys in Espoo, Finland were so happy to receive artwork in the mail from their friends in Nuuk, Greenland! We read each other's letters and messages.
Learning more about our friends gave us great ideas on how to make our Pop Up Holiday Cards. Since Leon's friend liked football, he decided to draw him a spotted football greeting card. Ella wanted to ask her friend questions about the painting she received. Ella wondered, "what animal did Misu draw? I think Minea's friend will surely like the surprise cat she made! hint: meow :)
Lusine, the teacher at Kita Felix and Friends in Berlin said, "the kids had a lot of fun, many painted with music, letting the beat be the guiding light." I'm sure their friends in Lasteaed Illikuku in Põlvamaa, Estonia are super excited to receive their musical paintings!
Hello Dears!
We have had so much fun and a nice time with our Dear You Art project and music paintings/drawings this week! Our kids listened in their own "small groups" different kind of music from Finnish classical to folk (specially our own national instrument Kantele) and world music (pop) between. And surely they were enjoying a lot also listening in peace while making "pictures".
Finally, they finished their work to an end. We discussed different kinds of feelings we had. Children mostly told about feeling happiness, joy, pleasure, good and positive emotions and their being safe! Some had exciting feels and also little bit scary too or at least mystic:... "like some big ship by the sea without knowing what is coming next..." All of them said they could do this again, it was so fun!
Hopefully you have received our big candy present for your kids in Vienna?
Best greetings,
Snowleopards and Anne-Marie
Our bodies react to music sometimes in ways we can't control or foresee. We just have to experience it to believe it! Today we tried to become more aware of why and how that happens. First, we started off by having a dance party to just let our bodies lose and move to the beat. Then we dived into our paints and let our dancing hands guide the brush. The stories created and felt were amazing!
First we listed to Dean Martin's "Let it Snow". The Monkeys will be performing this song for the Christmas play so it was fun to practice it with them.
When The Monkeys listened to Helado Negro's song titled "Invisible Heartbeat" images of ocean with whales and mermaids came swimming into the artists' minds. We got into groups to create collective paintings. Bringing all of our imaginary worlds together and making them come to life is always exciting!
How do you move, what do you see, how do you feel when you hear certain songs? What music do you hear when you look at the Monkeys' paintings? We are excited to see what our friends in Greenland come up with!
Naomi Kite, the Pre K teacher at The International School of Antwerp, and her artists have created beautiful Candy Bags for Halloween!
Naomi said, "They chose lots of lollipops with fantastical figures on them (I think these might be imagined lollipops, no one could exactly tell me if you could buy these in a store) and Belgian chocolates of many varieties. : )"
They will share these with their friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.
The Cats in Vienna, Austria are curious about their new partners, the Lumileopardit group in Vantaa, Finland. Simone Zobl said, "They are very proud and happy." It looks it!
