Two Rules at the Hand in Hand Early Years Arts Festival - Go Where You Want to Go and Have Fun!
Children and families were welcomed at the door of the Hand in Hand Early Years Arts Festival on Saturday, April 7th with only two rules: go where you want to go and have fun!
Fun is exactly what Senior Kindergarten student Karen was having at the event. "I was in the photo booth. I played a little guitar. I dressed in a unicorn costume and a kitty costume. I'm enjoying everything. I'm having fun."
The unstructured design of the event was a hit for the preschool to Grade 1 children, allowing two-hours of unstructured exploration and arts-based play.
"We designed the event to allow children and families to explore the arts together in a festival-like setting based on their interests," says Kirsten Dexter, Artist in Residence Lead for the Board. "Children could go where they wanted to go and spend as much or as little time as they wanted at each station. Some children arrived and went straight to the gym and never left the cardboard creation station. They spent the entire time building a fortress out of cardboard."
Twenty-five instructor-led, stations were provided by local artists and KCDSB staff, allowing children to try out creative dance, drama, yoga, visual arts, chalk, clay, robotics, sing-alongs, traditional drumming, dancing, storytelling, and many other activities. There were also self-directed imagination stations set up throughout Pope John Paul II School such as the peek-a-boo photo booths, cardboard creation, spray bottle mural painting, Lego creation, real musical instruments and a puppet theatre.
This is the first time Kenora Catholic has offered families the Hand in Hand Early Years Arts Festival, which is based on the successful Family Art Jamboree. Although the Early Years Arts Festival is offered to all families in Kenora, the annual Family Art Jamboree is only for KCDSB students as families have to register for specific workshops.
"Our Family Art Jamborees have been such a success, and we've had so many requests that we decided to offer younger children a similar opportunity," says Dexter. "It was amazing to see the joy and wonder on the children's faces as they moved throughout the school. Thank you to all of our local artists and Kenora Catholic staff for helping to make this event such a success for children and families."
The Third Annual Family Art Jamboree is scheduled for Saturday, April 28th, at Pope John Paul II School.
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Leah, a Senior Kindergarten Student from St. Louis School liked making cookies best, while mom, Lana enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. "There is so many fun things to see and do today. It's a really nice morning to spend with my daughter, exploring at our own pace."
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Dad, Mark, was involved in building a fort at the Cardboard Creation Station. "It's very nice here today. It's a great learning experience for the kids. Grade 1 student, Jackson had a hard time deciding what he liked best. "I liked making a box house, being with my friends and doing yoga."
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Children got to explore their messy side at the mural spray painting creation station.
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At the robotics station children could program the robot to create art.
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The edible art station was tasty and a huge hit.
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Children and families could explore creative movement and relaxation at the same time.
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Students enjoyed the sing-a-long with Mark Labelle
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A highlight of the event was being able to watch families playing and being creative together.
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Students from St. Thomas Aquinas High School created the Peek-a-boo Photo Booths that were set up in the gym.
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So much fun!
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