A Touch of Poetry

Image by marleneangeja via Flickr

Hello again!

Well, the new term is here and we thought what better way to begin than with this touching poem by Helen E. Buckley about an issue very close to our hearts...

The Little Boy

Once a little boy went to school

He was quite a little boy,
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside,
He was happy.
And the school did not seem
Quite so big any more.

One morning,
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
He liked to make pictures.
He could make all kinds:
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats –
And he took out his box of crayons
And he began to draw.

But the teacher said “Wait!
It is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready
“Now said the teacher
We are going to make flowers.”
“Good!” thought the little boy
He liked to make flowers,
And he began to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.

And the teacher said “Wait!
And I will show you how.”
And it was red, with a green stem.
“There,” said the teacher.
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s flower.

Then he looked at his flower.

He liked his flower better than the teacher’s.

But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over.
And made a flower like the teacher’s
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day,
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make something with clay.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
He liked clay

He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks-
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said:
“Wait it is not time to begin!”
And she waited until everyone looked ready

“Now,” said the teacher,
“We are going to make a dish.”
“Good!” thought the little boy.
He liked making dishes,
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.
Then the teacher said, “Wait!
And I will show you how.”
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
“There,” said the teacher,
“Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his dishes better than the teacher’s.
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher’s.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The boy learned to wait,
And to watch,
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and family
Moved to another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
The school was even bigger
Than the other one
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps,
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.

And on the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
“Today we are going to make a picture.”
“Good!” thought the little boy,
And he waited for the teacher
To tell him what to do,
But the teacher didn’t say anything.
She just walked round the room.

When she came to the little boy
She said, ”Don’t you want to make a picture?”
“Yes,” said the little boy.
“What are we going to make?”
“I don’t know until you make it,” said the teacher.
“How shall I make it?” asked the little boy.
“Why, any way you like,” said the teacher.
“And any colour ?” said the little boy.
“Any colour” said the teacher.
“If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colours,
How would I know who made what?
And which was which?”
“I don’t know, “ said the little boy.
And he began to make

A red flower with a green stem.

Helen E. Buckley

Join the Quest!

Our summer of craft workshops continues this and next week in seven South Staffs libraries.

Here's a few pictures from Codsall and Perton.

We've been making some Ben 10 alien watches...

...and, as ever, those brilliantly tall and colourful headdresses!

We've got 6 more days of this, then it's down to Bedfordshire for some rainforest-themed drumming sessions at the Children's University. Busy busy busy.

Jim

Crafts in Coventry #2

As promised, here are a few photos from today's workshop with KS2.

They made storybooks...

...and headdresses...

...and everyone had a great time!

We're heading down to South Staffordshire for the next fortnight to run the rest of our summer craft workshops. So there's plenty of planning to do!

Crafts in Coventry

Here are a few photos from the first of two craft workshops we're running this summer at Southfields Primary School in Coventry (where we made our glorious tiger mosaic, and filmed our first video diary). Today we worked with some local KS1 children who each made their very own magical story book starring their very own wizard or witch!

They made and bound their books, then designed houses, potions, spells, and monsters to fill it.

At the end they added words to their pictures to complete the story.

Seven Summer Hats for a School in Slough

So much for a relaxing end of term! We spent the last week before the summer holidays at Marish Primary School in Slough, making headdresses with (almost) all of its 640 children.

Each year group needed something different to wear for the procession at their annual Dance Festival (called Let's Dance), so we put our heads together and came up with 7 designs for 7 workshops: Reception made some colourful Rainbows; Y1 a night sky with a big yellow Moon; Y2 made feathers for their Air themed hats; Y3 did some brilliant, tall Fire headdresses; Y4 made long, sharp blades of grass to represent Earth; Y5 echoed their Water theme with wispy strips of shiny film; and Y6 made some impressive firey Suns.

Getting through all of the classes in just 5 days was certainly a challenge! But we got it done, and the results of the project are brilliant. We've been promised some photos from the event, so I'll pop those up as soon as they arrive.

Many thanks to Lucy for helping us out on the Monday when I couldn't be there. You did us proud! Does that mean that you're officially the Third Big Art Person though? We'll have to wait and see...

The Big Cat People

The Big Art People have been at those pebbles again! This time we spent 6 glorious days at St. James' Junior School in the centre of Derby, working with ALL year groups to produce these, frankly wonderful looking, big cats:

The designs are based on the school's 4 houses: Panther, Tiger, Lion, and Ocelot. Tim sketched them back in the office:

At the school the pebbles were sorted into colours, and the the four big cats were laid out in sandboxes. They were then painstakingly transferred, pebble by pebble, onto the wall by us and the children:

It was a tricky project to get right, but everyone worked really hard and I think you'll agree that the results are fantastic!

Thanks to all of the children at staff at the school; and special thanks to Andrew Buckenham for his help and support.

Jim (Big Artist)

Our First Video

You may have seen the Southfields Pebble Tiger skulking around our website in various places, well here is a video diary we made in the process edited down from hundreds of hours of footage into 5 minutes of pure viewing pleasure by Jim, just for you.

Hope you enjoy it!