November – ‘Perspective!'

Never too young to learn about ‘one point perspective’!

Today we’ve opened the doors to the basics of architecture by introducing ‘one point perspective’ drawings. Class discussed the meaning of ‘perspective’ and its relation to space and distance.

Working within the constraints of ‘Buildings, Trees and Road’, participants were tasked to exercise their understanding of today’s lesson.

Learning outcome: Introduction to One Point Perspective, Art composition and Creativity

November – How do you feel today?

Researchers found colours are able to spell or tell a variety of emotions ranging from joy and comfort  to hostility and anger. Today we discussed the types of emotions and the participants were given the task to choose their own colours to represent these emotions.  Against all norms,  participants were not pre-empt which  colour represents which emotion.

In addition to that, we incorporated a ‘fun-crafting factor’ by creating an ‘emotion cube’ to showcase the many colours and variants of emotions and  as a tool to express their feelings.

Learning outcome: types of emotions,  colour representations and what is a cube

November – Body Tracing Self-Portrait

Today our students worked in pairs to create self-portrait body tracings.
They were given large brown sheets of paper that were placed on the floor together with paints and rollers to create their masterpiece.

Our aim is to encourage working in pairs as well to allow students to explore the world outside of a plain white drawing block. It was nice to see students enjoying the freedom given, making the artwork their own, by the different colours they chose and how they decorated their self-portraits.
This activity allows students to be free to express their individual creativity.

Learning outcome: freedom of expression and space, team work, creativity

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!

August - Paper Doll ' Sehati Sejiwa'

'Merdeka' Day is very close! With catchy patriotic songs ringing in our ears, and visually treated to our Malaysian flag flying from buildings, homes, cars and bicycles, and even worn in all fashions and sizes.....the national dress shares centre stage together with those reflecting our diverse ethnicity. How best can we remind our young of national fervour and our ethnic roots than through play?

PAPER DOLLS! Self-made paper dolls were childhood imaginary friends and the expression of our forefathers' design aspirations and awareness of modesty, giving hours of pleasure in play.
Though commercially available now, our students were taught today to revisit what it was like to make and design their own paper dolls with the theme "unity in diversity" and attention to the national dress and various ethnic dress choice.

Learning outcome: Malaysians dressed uniquely, attention to colours, prints, self-made play and fun

August – ‘Tanah Air Ku’ - To know Malaysia is to love Malaysia.

Running up to Merdeka, we “took our students up to the sky”; for a helicopter view of how our Tanah Air, Malaysia looks like from above; outline of the Malaysian map.

The art method used today was string art; where we gave our Malaysian map a creative boost by applying geometric patterns with strings. The exercise helped refine precision/critical thinking, depth of colour and the knack of simplifying a subject matter.

Learning outcome: string art, outline of the Malaysian map, creativity and self-expression.

August - Dot-Dot Jalur Gemilang

Merdeka Day is around the corner and what better way to instil the Malaysian spirit in our students than to take them through the colours and representation of our Malaysian flag, ‘Jalur Gemilang’.

The method used today is one of the most common yet intricate rendering techniques; 'the Dots'. The challenge to the students was to keep the dots within boundaries and yet display a creativity and play of colours that is totally individualistic.

Learning outcome: Understanding of and pride in the Malaysian flag, exercise and control of the eyes and hands with emphasis on concentration and patience.

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August – “Why is smoking bad for you?”

Class started with discussing 'Why is smoking bad for you?' Then a slideshow explaining the effects of smoking was presented- from listing the harmful ingredients of cigarettes to the effects to the lungs. The discussion ended with an experiment; where students observed a simulation of smoking, by using a lit cigarette, a bottle filled with water (replicate lungs) and a facial tissue. The outcome of the experiment found an accumulation of tar and nicotine on the tissue; clearly illustrating how harmful cigarettes are to the lungs.

Next, students were asked to review and express through art, what they learnt and experienced from the discussion and experiment.

We hope today’s lesson will guide our children to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle, Insya Allah.

Learning outcome: The health risks of smoking cigarettes, creativity and self-expression."

July – Diorama

Students were introduced to ‘Diorama’; a three-dimensional scene created to illustrate an environment; to boost one’s understanding of a subject matter and its surroundings.

Before crafting we got our students involved in a small discussion of what subject matters to choose and how to depict its environment.

Time did not permit finished works and served only to build awareness and interest. Project likely to be repeated sometime in the future"

Learning outcome: Introduction to Diorama, sampling of 3-dimensional viewpoint, exploring imagination, usage of recycled materials, developing creativity and self-expression.

July – “Wayang Kulit” - Session 1 & 2

'Wayang kulit' or shadow play, a royal court entertainment before and then a popular traditional entertainment in northeast peninsular Malaysia is soon to be a forgotten art form if efforts are not continued to preserve it. With similarities to puppetry, it re-enacts history, folklore of heroes and heroines and stories real and imagined.

Today's lessons hope to rekindle the child's imagination through play and art. Students crafted their own "wayang kulit" character and as part of public speaking exercise, they were asked to tell a short story based on that character.

Learning outcome: Wayang Kulit making, story telling, character design and creativity development

July – “Let’s go fly a kite” - Sessions 1 & 2

Today we told our students to keep their Raya angpows in the bank; “make toys instead of buying!”
Using ‘lidi’, strings, coloured paper and tape, students were guided (step-by-step) to create their very own Diamond kite.

Learning Outcome: kite making, do-it-yourself toy, developing their creativity and self-expression.