Yesterday we had a really fun Creative Arts session at MJ Mysore Road. Kathi, Ed, Kalpana and I attended the session. We did the second module of clay modelling with them. We thought clay is a good medium for kids to explore and be ok with imperfect art that essentially is about self expression. The main point that we want to bring across is that in art there is no right or wrong.
This session we started off with an introduction round of Ed and Kalpana. It was amazing to see the kids bonding with Ed even though they did not speak the same language. Afterwards we did brain gym (cross crawling) , which is basically just jumping around and the birdy dance to loosen them up. Then we distributed the clay and asked them to make a ball, a square and a cone out of it and to decorate those shapes by sticking things on or carving designs. Already, the shapes turned out better than the last session. :-)
Then, we asked them to do a welcome sign for their houses. We didn't give them any other instruction, as we want them to experiment and to develop creative thinking. It was amazing that every single one looked different (heart, hand, lock, square, round plate etc). They did a great job. Then Ed had the idea to ask them whether before the session they would have thought to be able to do that - everybody said no... and then we asked them to scale (between 0 and 5) how they had felt about the task before and how feel about it now. All of them felt more confident about it now and some actually assessed their own skills (most said from 0 before to 5 now, but some also said 1-3 or similar). In the end, we played jack sits in the kitchen with tina and again the birdy dance because the kids like it so much.
This is what Ed had to say."This was the first time I saw this session in action. I was hugely impressed by Kathi who engaged really well with the children. All displayed real enthusiasm for the session and demonstrated good creative skills. They responded wellto the need for focused work and particularly enjoyed the singing. They asked for a repeat of the singing many times which led me to think that they do not have enough opportunity to let their hair down and have some fun whilst at the same time having the opportunity to express themselves. Well done to Kathi and Sonali!!"
"I felt a real burst of creativity in the room. The kids on their own took the activity to the next level. They even started moulding the clay without us giving them any ideas or suggestions about the same. The welcome signs were really creative. One of the children even made a lock and key shaped sign and someone made a hand shaped sign. The detailing was really well done even though we have not yet reached to that level. They themselves figured out the need to smoothen the clay and the technique for the same. They were extremely enthusiasctic throughout the session and were being good team players by helping out their friends."
"It was a big learning experience for me. I learned that children themselves are okay with learning by doing and making mistakes in the process. They do not have an obsessive need to be perfect and are not in the habit of branding art as good and bad or right and wrong. They can truly get into the spirit of art and produce honest work that is solely driven by the love for work and the need for self expression. This is something we as adults are not used to doing and we end up forcing our perceptions of right and wrong on them and telling our children that they are not good enough if they do not meet our expectations!"
Sonali Gupta - Program Coordinator
Kathi Kitzinger - International Volunteer
Ed Williams - International Volunteer
No comments:
Post a Comment