Dwarf workshop

Text and photos: Nicoleta Oprea

Spring, welcome!

We were happy to meet on Saturday at a new workshop, where spring was once again in the spotlight. Because we love flowers and colours, we thought we'd come out to welcome the season and prepared with everything we needed. We cut out a little basket for the children which they decorated, each according to their own skill, with self-adhesive fabric flowers. We matched each flower to a colour and slowly, slowly we learned them all. Together we listed some of the flowers whose names the children already knew and listened to the song 'Spring flowers'. When the basket was filled with flowers, the children gave it to someone dear to them...their mother.Then, the youngest of the dwarves socialized with each other, built turrets out of cubes or were drawn to other toys we brought to each workshop. We were always in the mood to play and, to the background of cute tunes, we danced like ducklings and hopped like frogs, having a great time.

Romanian language and culture

Text: Eliza van Peppen

Here we come to our last lesson on Spring. A lesson of synthesis through reading, games and fun. Of course we will also refer to this season we all love, a season of renewal when everything is transformed every day and nature whispers to us that life is everywhere and that there is happiness in every beginning of spring.

Our reading "Oana and Alex Save Spring", an episode of Mekki magazine, with Alex and Oana, two children who went for a walk in the park and had an unusual adventure, held our breath.

"Zdup... tronc... zdrang... a hole in the asphalt swallowed them.

- Help! The whirlwind wave the two children have reached the depths of the Earth. / Here are buried secrets. We know the whispers./ We hold roots and insects,/ Flirtatious branches and thirsty seeds/Beauty!

They meet the 'Wise Man of the Earth' who sadly tells them why the snowdrops, rose bushes and other seeds refuse to sprout and flower. They are upset because the earth is full of rubbish. Alex and Oana promise to help so that spring can quickly return. Back in the park, they and other young and old friends start a rubbish collection drive. With their help, the harbingers of spring could reappear!

The children showed a lot of skill and cleverness by enthusiastically answering the questions: 'Who are Oana and Alex dating? Why can't the snowdrops bloom? What do they mean? What do they decide? etc".

Our adventure continued with two movement games where we trained our imagination and vocabulary by imitating movements suggested by words. The palette of colours and the sounds of birds inspired us to play the games.

Our workshop ended with graphic design exercises, fine motor writing exercises and a creative moment. As we learned about birds and their delightful trills with the arrival of spring, we decided to celebrate them by creating birds with colourful plumage (pipits, nightingales, swallows) using collage and modelling techniques.

I look forward to seeing you at our next lesson on 7 April, when we will celebrate "Holy Easter" together.

Play, personal development and photography

Text and photos by Raluca Tudorache

After conjuring up spring, here we had some really nice sunshine last Saturday.

It was very tempting to get out and explore the first traces of Dutch spring. But before the exploring began, we talked about the details and the finer points. We practiced our eagle eye to look for things unseen on the horizon, to shape them and even to fabulate what they look like and what they might be. Having trained our senses and strapped ourselves ready with the necessary tools to explore reality in detail, we had to make a special effort not to succumb to the temptation of lounging in the sun, swinging on swings or playing football with unknown children :).

We kept our focus and the exploration started with a bang. The children's curiosity and imagination is boundless. They excelled in applying what we discussed and not only did they not find it difficult, but they quickly became very inventive consciously applying even notions we discussed a few lessons ago: like composition, perspective, light and, why not, teamwork. This time, not having enough cameras, they divided the cameras they had into teams. They worked well together and helped each other, exchanging remarks and analysing the photos taken during our expedition.We studied nature, trying to observe all possible details: the stones and their shape, how they change colour in the sun, the chalk marks of a drawing on the wall, a bamboo bush, a mosaic bench, the trees, their bark, the newly sprouted leaves, the sky, the buildings and how they stand out against the sky, how the shadow falls on different objects. I've done portraits, group photography, abstract and spontaneous photography and even photography using an installation that changes from moment to moment.

All in all, it was a tasty and very interesting lesson. Time seemed too short this time too, but we look forward to the next lesson when the children will also receive prizes for best group photographer, as we clearly have some budding talent.

Until then, I hope you enjoy your little holiday this week!

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