Ubuntu Collage with Forest Arts Centre!

Last week I was invited to teach a craft session at Forest Arts Centre for some local schools on the theme of 'Ubuntu'. If you don't know (I didn't), then Ubuntu essentially means 'I am because we are'; feel free to investigate more after you've read this if that has activated your curiosity zone.

There were a small group of lucky students chosen from each of 4 local primary schools and along with dance and drama teachers in other areas of the building, I was to deliver 3 x 20 minute art sessions with the children rotating around each class every half hour. Essentially like the artistic version of speed dating! There aren't many arts and crafts that you can satisfactorily complete with minimal mess in 20 minutes (in my opinion) whilst keeping within the theme of Ubuntu, so I chose a simple collage class. 

Many of the children knew what collage was, some being experts and some being complete beginners. I had collected a range of old books and magazines for them to destroy cut up, along with some nice papers, scissors and glue etc. provided by the hosts. I set them the challenge to make a collage of what Ubuntu meant to them and they did an amazing job! 20 minutes is really not a long time, so this was no mean feat.

Here's a few in progress that I really liked (there were plenty of great ones but I did not have a lot of time for photography!😅):








And there we have it! I'd love to do more activities like this as it was sort of a new type of challenge for me to teach such short sessions, but I really liked it. Thanks for having me, Forest Arts Centre!


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