For the past few weeks, our preschool has been buzzing with excitement as everyone prepared for the Art Festival. This year’s theme was “Ishida Town” inspired by the familiar places and buildings around our neighborhood. Each class worked hard to bring different parts of our town to life.
In Bear Class, we worked on two different kinds of crafts: individual (our very own trains), and group (a train station, train track, a supermarket, trees, a traffic light, and many more). And displayed two of the arts that we did during the second term.
Using all the recyclable materials that we all brought from home (empty food trays, plastic containers, boxes, milk cartons, cups, pet bottles, straws, ribbons, yarns, and so much more) Our classroom looked like a tiny workshop with treasures. During the process, we planned, we picked the materials ourselves, we assembled and sticked them together, and to the best of our ability, made the best craft the whole Ishida Preschool has ever seen. Everyday, our class was filled with the sounds of scissors snipping, tape pulling, colored pens scribbling, and minds busy wondering on how to make our ideas turn into reality.
As for the group craft, everyone had a job to do. Some glued, some painted, some cut, some colored, some held pieces in place while friends taped them. It truly felt like a construction site. We all worked together as a team in order to attain a certain goal.
While we worked on our trains and other crafts, other classes were also creating beautiful parts of Ishida town. The Tulip Classes made flowers and cakes that they display on their flower shops and cake shops; the Year I crafted various vehicles, as well as a hospital and a fire station; the Momo class made houses and the Momo Terraces; and the Year III made individual dolls, our school, and our playground.
By the end of our preparation, the hall was filled with imagination, creativity, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from making something together. The Art festival wasn’t just about the crafts. It was about the process of planning, choosing, building, helping friends, and finishing something together.
