November – Peribahasa

‘Buat baik berpada-pada, buat jahat jangan sekali’. We started off with inviting everyone to give their input on the proverb. Next, we discussed its meaning and each related an example of a good deed. To help instil such positive values, the students were then tasked to plan and illustrate them in a comic format.

Most childhood education experts agree that building children’s character must begin from young, and best done in a fun, graphic and interactive manner. Besides developing knowledge and skills in executing the process of art, today’s activity also aims to instil positive values, gently guiding the children towards what’s right, and to work towards good value-based living.

Learning outcome: Instilling positive values in children, introduction to malay proverbs and the sampling process of comic illustration.

October – Kolam!

Deepavali is around the corner and what is Deepavali without Kolam/ Rangoli?- a colourful artform originating from India that symbolizes happiness and prosperity and commonly features geometric patterns, floras and faunas.

Colourful Kolams take centre stage at this time of the year in shopping malls, office complexes and lobbies of key buildings in the country and as welcome "mats" in homes ushering in Deepavali festivities for our friends celebrating the occasion. Using rich colours of blue, red, white, yellow, green and purple coloured rice, our students were on the floor, creating their Kolam; a testament to their own artistic flair and personal choice of subject matter.

This activity aims to improve hand to eye coordination, sensory skills and developing fine motor skills. Significantly this helps enhance and expose our students to another culture from the rich and diverse multicultural society of Malaysia.

Learning outcome: Sensory and fine motor skills with appreciation of the riot of colours engaged in Kolam making

October – 'Toy Story!'

Toys are an inseparable part of a child’s life as they play an important role in growth and development throughout the early phase of his/her life, and sometimes even into adulthood.

At today’s activity, we took a step further using familiar toys as subject matter to help increase our student’s awareness and skills in design composition- the skill of ‘placing’ parts of a visual (object and colours) and tracing them in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement
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Today’s activity also aims to improve hand to eye coordination and more importantly, exercise patience.

Learning outcome: Knowledge of Principles of Design; Balance and Composition, Improving Hand to Eye coordination, Patience in art.

October – Mask!

Mask making is part of pretend play. Children engaging in this activity will benefit from social, emotional skills and language. It can also help nurture imagination - a vital component in sharpening one’s creative problem solving skills.

Today, without providing templates, our students were given the freedom to design and explore mask making from scratch; from design planning, face measurement, mask design and painting.

Learning outcome: Developing coordination and fine motor skills, self-expression and nurturing imagination.

p.s. Selamat Hari Sukan Negara!

September – Doodle Monster!

Monsters at Kraftee Bug - Art and Craft Class !!!
Today our "Bugs" were tasked to dream up monsters, working as a team to create their own monsters! Starting with first doodling the monster’s ‘head’, the ‘monster’ was then passed on to the next person to create its ‘body’ and subsequently another to create its ‘limbs’. Each student was given only 2 minutes to create each body part.

Today’s exercise trains our students to think and produce quick creative ideas on the run, promote team work and exercise time management with oodles of fun.

Learning outcome: Quick Creative Outbursts, Team Work, Time Management and a collective figment of the imagination

September – Colour Wheel Lantern

The main objective of today’s lesson is to introduce the basic knowledge of colours - ‘The Colour Wheel’. Glass papers of primary colours (blue, red and yellow) were used, as one of the most effective ways to show and learn how the colour wheel works.

Apart from its functional purpose, the Lantern concept was chosen to represent the Mid- Autumn Festival; a harvest festival celebrated by not only the ethnic Chinese, but also Chinese in Malaysia and around the world in family get-together. Our students got to know and be exposed to the uniqueness of living in multicultural Malaysia with its interesting cultures and practices.

Learning outcome: Primary Colours, lantern making and materials used, Cultural Awareness

September – Soap Bubble Art

In the name of art, today we dived into the messiness – Soap Bubble Art! Messy activity such as this helps stimulate senses; develop eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills and lungs-breath control.

While the students were given the freedom to hang loose with this new painting method, masking with hand-prints served to guide a form and contained composition perimeters. The outcome is a masterpiece that helps embed their hand-prints for memory and nostalgia in years to come.

Learning outcome: Soap bubble art, colour mixing, composition and arty fun!