Nurture Interventions
Wet-felting is an extremely soothing and relaxing process and this is without doubt the main reason that I have used it in so much of my work both in Education and in Healthcare settings.
I
One of my first
AllSensesArt Nurture Interventions was at Model Village Primary School. I worked with Y5 and
Y6 students every Friday for a full academic year. Although most of the pupils
had been given a free choice as to their Friday afternoon activity; Sports,
Fishing, Dance, Craft (i.e. wet-felting with me) certain students had been
allocated to my group because teaching and support staff had identified that
they were especially in need of Nurture. I worked with school staff who
advised me on certain student’s additional needs and possible behaviour triggers.
We started off with short activities making things which could be taken home at the end of each session and this then culminated in two large projects in the final five weeks of the year.
We started off with short activities making things which could be taken home at the end of each session and this then culminated in two large projects in the final five weeks of the year.
A wool version of the colour wheel. Mixing colours with fluffy sheep's wool is even more exciting than doing it with paint
I use music, drama and story-telling to bring a project to life
Y5 made a Fantasy
Superhero Wall-Hanging for their library and Y6 made the
really wonderful Nuno felted Den.
In my own practice www.kirstyesmith.co.uk I use textures, colour and sound and in my www.allsensesart.com work I often use music and a full range of tactile materials.
This SuperHero wall hanging had so much going on; flying shoes, portals to escape to other dimensions, Dr Who's Tardis, DX wrestling, Excalibur and stretchy gloves that can go under doors. These ideas came from our first dramatic dressing-up session in the school library; that's when we tried out the idea of being our own superheroes.
In my own practice www.kirstyesmith.co.uk I use textures, colour and sound and in my www.allsensesart.com work I often use music and a full range of tactile materials.
This SuperHero wall hanging had so much going on; flying shoes, portals to escape to other dimensions, Dr Who's Tardis, DX wrestling, Excalibur and stretchy gloves that can go under doors. These ideas came from our first dramatic dressing-up session in the school library; that's when we tried out the idea of being our own superheroes.
The pupils have SO MUCH to be proud of. And before I'd left the school the TAs had already installed cushions and fairy lights inside this sensory den!
The FireBird project at Wirksworth Primary School was a Nurture intervention with the goal of making the transition from Y2 infants up to Y3 Junior school a less daunting challenge. The Junior school was on a different site and so some pupils had been idientified as being ones who would benefit from some assistance with the stress of the transition. I was introduced to Wirksworth School by my Creative Partnerships contact who had liked how I'd worked with KS2 puplils in a previous project the, Sensory Weather Pod.
For the FireBird project I worked with a combined group of Y2 and Y3 pupils. Music from the FireBird ballet was played, mini-creatures from Koschei the Imortal's garden were made, a fabulous 3D felted firebird was created (where all the children contributed) and a beautiful little zig-zag book of the pupil’s bird drawings was made.
The Firebird was displayed in the bookshop as part of Wirksworth Arts Festival (so the pupils’ achievements were very public) and their self-esteem had grown while friendships with older pupils in the Junior school were nurtured.
For the FireBird project I worked with a combined group of Y2 and Y3 pupils. Music from the FireBird ballet was played, mini-creatures from Koschei the Imortal's garden were made, a fabulous 3D felted firebird was created (where all the children contributed) and a beautiful little zig-zag book of the pupil’s bird drawings was made.
The Firebird was displayed in the bookshop as part of Wirksworth Arts Festival (so the pupils’ achievements were very public) and their self-esteem had grown while friendships with older pupils in the Junior school were nurtured.
The firebird on display in The Bookshop window
