So far, we have organised eight Creative Makers workshops, during which children and their parents can make paper by hand, print with letterpress and prepare a stop-motion animations – all within three hours. The overall theme of our creative work and discussions are environmental issues. We start the workshops off with a simple question: “How can each one of us contribute to the preservation of Estonian nature?” and then try to find answers.
We divide children into four teams which get their own “passport” with a timetable they should follow and guiding questions. Each group chooses an environmental issue and then sets off to work while discussing possible solutions of the issue. They then convey the message through a short animation and a printed poster.
Printing the poster is divided into two parts – first the kids print a template on our Korrex Nürnberg with Nestor. He tells them a bit about type-setting and helps them figure out why the type is backwards. When the template has been printed, they go over to Hannah, who guides them through the creative process of drawing with letters. The teams are asked to express their idea – the answer to how we can help the environment – not by writing it down using letters, but by drawing it out using letters. The compositions they come up with are inspirational! They print their posters on handmade paper. They can’t make it themselves, as A3 format takes too long to dry, so instead we prepare the paper beforehand. However, all participants still venture into our papermaking workshop. There, Mari helps them make seedpaper (which they can later plant) while talking about the history of papermaking and showing a small exposition of paper made in our Labora workshop.
Stop-motion animation is possibly the most popular. The kids get a short intro to the animation station (placed in a suitcase – check out the original idea by Wonderful Idea Co.) and then get down to work. Using the materials they find on the table and the whole workshop, they create characters, a background, a story line, often even credits!
We’ve already made thirty posters and animations during our workshops, and not one is the same.
Enjoy some of the animations here!
You will find more photos here!
