Education can be an uphill battle…

A large classroom needs an equally large decoration, otherwise it can end up looking a mess. This painting works well both as a metaphor for learning and as an impressive backdrop for other images and artworks. And the class guinea pigs can enjoy the view from the foothills!

Each child in the class was allocated a climber to colour as they liked. And each one carries a backpack containing the ideas that propel them forward or hold them back from learning.

Of course, some seem to be heading in the wrong direction… but that could just be a temporary detour into the “learning pit” before they resume climbing again.

A curly challenge for library students

Every wavy hair on this giant head is full of creative input from the primary school students – a multi-dimensional task! First, they were asked to think of a great first sentence for a story. Then they had to carefully handwrite their words around a spiral-shaped path. Then came the hardest bit: cutting around and around the curl – very tricky and good scissoring practice!

fork 004 fork 002 fork 007 fork 006

Sporty kids love reading too

By featuring a particular genre of book in a display, and making available a selection of those books, I’ve found that we can generate quite a bit of enthusiasm amongst the kids in their borrowing habits.

One day the librarian and I decided to make a display of sporting books. I painted these cute little characters individually, then ranged them around a picture of a book with a sporting quote printed inside. I stuck some sponge behind the book graphic which gave a nice 3-D effect.

The kids loved the cute characters and the sporting books flew off the shelves for several weeks — particularly the non-fiction titles, which was a nice change. We raffled off the poster afterwards, and it was quite a popular competition.