recycling turns things into other things which is like Magic!
Moving forward after the launch in June, and the dance in July the involving teachers had a discussion virtually with our clients. We proposed art malts ideas that would be useful for our clients engagement. Despite not being physically there, the children wanted our clients to maximise their learning and create active participation in the project. They worked on a variety of malts that can be useful for the clients to manipulate cognitively and physically. The DIY materials include; roller stamps, paintbrushes, stamp pads, crayons, threading crafts and coloring books. This was done and completed for the whole month in August 2020.
For a start, children from K1 Buttercup engaged themsleves in making Roller Stamps . These stamp rollers are created from toilet rolls and foam stensils. Materials were given as a take home kit for children and parent to bond and engage themseleves actively in the project. The children decide on the designs while parents faciliated in the making. Children came back and shared their designs actively towards their other peers!
While the K1 Buttercups are coming out strong with their rollers, the K1 Bellflower embarked to create Threading Crafts. These threading crafts are made from cardboards and corrugated boards which have been generously contributed by their parents. The designs and colors are chosen by the children, making them the designers of the show. Designs also focused on two types of threading- threading into holes and threading around irregular designs.
As children manipulated with such activities, it exposes them to refine hollistic development too!
A child’s mind is not a container to be but rather a fire to be kindled -Dorothea Brande
Ticking these two off the checklist, K1 Buttercup group followed up with their project to create Paint Stamp Pads. For this item, children prepared sponges for the paint pads and plastic containers for storage purposes. In this activity, children selected a mixture of primary and secondary colours for our clients to enjoy.
The process of making is so simple and fun! They aligned the sponges together before spreading the selected colour over it. This activity allowed children to manipulate over a medium of tools while doing it for a good purpose. The highlight of this activity is when these stamp pads can be paired together with the rollers that were previously done!
K1 Bellflower also progressed further by preparing Paint Brushes made out of straws and strings. Yup! You read that right; and we made it possible! It was assigned as a take home kit activtiy for children and parents to complete it over a week. The brushes turned out great with varying lengths, thickness and materials.
The hardwork does not stop there! K1 Buttercup then created Melted Crayons with the help of their teacher. Children made new crayons and explored new colours using old ones. These crayons are donated by children and parents which are then used to create new ones. The children decide on the colours they want to use and place them in muffin trays for it to be heated over a period of time. These melted crayons are then stored at an air dry place for it to be cooled off before it can be used as a new writing tool! The kids enjoyed it so much they explored and selected a variety of colours!
Meanwhile, K1 Bellflower engaged themselves to create stationary holders. The aim of it is to create water resistant holders for durability purposes. Prior to this, children reflected on recyclables that are water resistant. They concluded that plastic and metal tins are the best resources for this activity. Hence, we tapped on children to bring used bottles like shampoo, soap and plastic bottles to recreate them into stationary holders.
Children were involved in designing, painting and pasting techniques through this approach. The designs ranged from contact paper designs and authentic drawings suggested by the children.
Last but not least, children also prepared personalized books ranging from sizes A4 and A5 sizes. These books are made out of coloured and drawing paper before getting children to design the cover page. Children manipulated with writing tools and loose parts materials to achieve a new front cover outlook for the books.
All in all, children were the stars of the show and put in a great amount of effort for the clients. The sets are then nicely packed and will be delivered for the clients to engage themselves. Hence, despite the Covid-19 situation, children were still giving and made Start Small Dream Big come alive! With the help of VOSI, teachers, parents and their fellow comrades (peers) the SSDB project has been fruitful and engaging for the children.
