What’s in your ‘I Am’ Box?

June 29, 2022: There’s nothing with paper that our art teacher and paper crafter fan Alison McHugh can’t do, so we knew when we sent her off to Casa Chirilagua for an afternoon with their kids, it would be amazing. It’s a double win when our Heard art teachers have as much fun as the people we work with! Alison sure had fun at Casa Chirilagua on Wednesday, and so did the kids. And isn’t the “I Am” box a great idea?
Afterwards Alison wrote to us: “These kids were amazing and we had SO MUCH fun! We made ‘I Am’ boxes, where they wrote/drew about all of the great things they are on the inside. I practiced my budding Spanish speaking skills and we drew and colored and laughed. So fun. Thank you!”

More Fun Fridays at Casa Chirilagua!

What do you get when you mix our art teacher Sharmila with dozens of elementary school kids from Casa Chirilagua? Why, puppets and sculptures and imagination, oh my! So much to share here! Where to start? Let’s start with Alberto Giacometti, one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century whose work was particularly influenced by Cubism and Surrealism styles. Giacometti was best known for the bronze sculptures of tall, thin human figures, made between 1945 to 1960. Sharmila introduced him to the Casa Chirilagua kids, gave them some pipe cleaners (tall and thin, get it?) and off they went! We just had to share the octopus video, and we love how proud she was of her creation. And the earrings, of course. One must be properly accessorized.

Puppets were on the docket the second week! It’s amazing what kids can create with paper bags, crayons, glue, and a free imagination. Love the blue eyeshadow and eyelashes on the puppet below!

 

 

 

 

Writing with Maisie

We’re always up for something new, and this time we took on creative writing for our “Fun Fridays” program with the kids at Casa Chirilagua. Our Solveig Eggerz took on the challenge of creating and sharing a story for 24 kids (grades 1-3 for 40 minutes, then grades 4-5 for 40 minutes). Ever the (many times published) writer, Solveig created “Maisie the Frog” based on the Grimms’ Fairy Tales “The Three Feathers.” The kids listened, discussed, acted, shared, and ultimately wrote about Maisie in their Heard notebooks. Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon!