{"id":5439,"date":"2020-08-17T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/?p=5439"},"modified":"2023-11-28T12:52:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:52:19","slug":"kids-art-club-to-the-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/kids-art-club-to-the-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"Kid\u2019s Art Club to the Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This year has been a difficult one so far for everyone, but it was also the best time to reconnect with ourselves and the ones that our close to us. It was like a long holiday for some lucky ones but think about those who do not have money, space at home, privacy, gardens or even basic supplies like soap and sanitisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many kids lacked digital devices and internet access and were deprived of education during lockdown. Even paints, pens, pencils, sharpeners, rubbers, paper, glue, scissors – things most of us take for granted were not available to all. In large households with many family members living on top of one another, lockdown has been a significant challenge. This is especially the case for many mothers who find it difficult or even impossible to preserve some time for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that is exactly how Art Club came to rescue. With the help of the Open University\u2019s (OU) Covid Chronicles project<\/a> and Swansea Asylum Seekers Support<\/a>, I started this art club on Zoom to give children and their mothers something to do. Art materials were bought by OU and SASS and they were safely delivered to doorsteps by volunteers. We contacted families to ask if they had access to internet and a laptop or phone so that they could join the class via Zoom. We also set up a WhatsApp group. A professional Zoom account was provided to me to make sure that kids had enough time for their session activities (the free version cuts out after 40 minutes). And we started on Saturday 20th of June 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The sessions are well-planned, and details are shared with mothers in our WhatsApp group, usually on Friday, so that they can prepare the materials, and they can let us know if they need anything. We always try to use materials that are easy to access and of course safe for young kids. It is not just a fun session, young artists can actually learn a lot from this club because I have just graduated as a designer. I introduce them to news ideas and methods, vocabulary, materials and new ways of drawing and creating objects. The children that I work with also teach me things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an outline of some of the art activities that kids have enjoyed and a selection of their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Session 1: Continuous Line Drawing<\/strong> : <\/p>\n\n\n\n We started with some basic warm-up drawings, and then spent the session doing continuous line drawings and observing our surroundings. I showed the image below as an example. It was a really good exercise. We had 13 kids that joined us and we also spent some time getting to know each other. <\/p>\n\n\n