TREE TALES IN BRISTOL!

We are seeking more funding to develop this project and exhibit the tree and stories in a public space in Bristol. To vote for us please visit....

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5960

VOTING ENDS 22ND OCTOBER!

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What's it all about?

Back in July we began work on an exciting new project called 'Tree Tales' with Hillcrest Primary School, Bristol!

The aim of the project is to share stories from children and young people in Lusaka (Zambia) and Bristol (UK) so they can learn about eachothers' communities through storytelling. The stories will tell tales of what trees in their local community have seen change around them over the trees' long life - the environment, people and animals. Children at Hillcrest Primary will be designing and building a tree sculpture which will showcase these stories through visuals, sound and performance in a public space in their local area.


This project was inspired by Barefeet Theatre facilitators' stories about the trees in Fountain of Hope Children's Centre, Lusaka where they grew up. Three trees still stand in the grounds of the centre, which before there were any buildings were used for; sleeping under, cooking under and learning under. Young people from Barefeet Children's Council are sending stories all the way from Zambia to Bristol, and we will be sending some back to them from children Bristol!


In July we ran an introductory workshop with two Year 5 classes at Hillcrest Primary School, to introduce our 'Tree Tales' project. Working with visiting artists Charlie Henry and Stewart Wright as well as Mia an Sian, the students took part in one of three different workshops;

• Design Workshop - Designing trees
• Storytelling - Creating & recording stories/song about trees
• Drama Workshop - Devising a tree based drama

The children's designs, stories and photographs were exhibited in August at the new M-Shed Museum in Bristol as part of the 'Pride of Place' Neighbourhood Partnership Awards. We received some funding from the Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill Partnership for this project.

To be continued........

Art Auction in aid of CKI!

The lovely people at Art on the Hill have organised an art auction to fundraise for Creative Kids International for which we are very grateful!

Please come along and support the event, have a drink and buy some local art!

WEDNESDAY 21st SEPTEMBER

7.30pm
 

at The Victoria Pub, Raymond Road, Bristol

The auction will launch the art trail that takes place in Windmill Hill and Victoria Park over the first weekend in October.  For more info visit www.artonthehill.org.uk

Please forward to anyone that may be interested, and hope to see you there!

Sian, Mia and the CKI Team.x

CKI visuals at the Barefeet festival 2010, Zambia!

To see a UNICEF film about our work in last year's Youth Arts Festival in Lusaka, Zambia click on the link below (or copy and paste the link below into your browser).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1HYhnopwcc



Creative Kids International worked with children and young people from several Children's Centres in Lusaka to build the huge carnival sculptures and costumes as seen in the film. Reused materials were gathered to create the costumes and sculptures focusing on different themes to get the children thinking about Climate Change. The themes were; Water, Air, Nature, Rubbish and Animafwafwas.

Creative Kids International also co-ordinated the fashion show as seen in the film. This was the finale to the UNICEF Children's Climate Change Conference, and the beginning of the Barefeet Theatre Youth Arts Festival.

For more information and photos from the build up to the festival see our blogs from 2010.

Sponsor Owen in the Coventry 5K Big Fun Run!

HUGE THANKS & WELL DONE TO OWEN LAMPREY FOR COMPLETING THE COVENTRY 5K BIG FUN RUN ON 21st AUGUST 2011 IN JUST UNDER 30 MINS

& RAISING £700
FOR CREATIVE KIDS INTERNATIONAL!

You can still sponsor Owen, just follow the link below...

If you want to sponsor me just click on the 'donate' button below and pay direct to Creative Kids International through PayPal, a secure online payment system. You do not need a PayPal account to use this, and can pay using most debit/credit cards.

Please write 'Sponsorship Owen 5k' in the box that says 'Sponsorship OR Donation?' when confirming payment.

Please note: If you pay through PayPal a small amount of your donation will be taken as an administration fee for PayPal (3.4% + 20p of each donation - about 54p from a £10 donation).

Alternatively you can give cash/cheque to me (or Sian/Mia).

Thanks for your support!

Owen and the CKI team.

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For more info about the Coventry 5k Big Fun Run visit

http://www.bigfunrun.com/?coventry&locations_id=54

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Creative Kids International (CKI) is a creative visual arts education organisation working in the UK and Africa.

Based in Bristol (UK), CKI works both in the UK and Africa with children, young people and adults who work with children, by providing positive hands-on creative experiences.

In Africa, CKI works with partner organisations to provide unique creative experiences for children and young people who are often overlooked by society, offering them opportunities to have a voice, learn new skills, gain confidence and get creative!

For more information please visit www.myspace.com/creativekidsinternational

Follow us on Twitter - 'Creative Kids Int'

Join our Facebook group - 'Creative Kids International'

Whitefield Primary School in Liverpool!

Last week Creative Kids International spent 3 days (25^th – 27^th June) running workshops at Whitefield Primary School in Liverpool. Everyone involved had a fantastic time! We worked with 5 classes from Reception through to Year 3, as well as taking a whole school assembly.

The school was holding a multicultural week, focused on looking at community cohesion – locally and globally. The school are working hard to foster links with the local community, and create opportunities for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of culture and diversity in the wider community and beyond.

Creative Kids International were invited to come and share their experiences of working in Zambia, and offer students the opportunity to learn about life in Zambia. In the workshops students were encouraged to think about their school community, their local community, the wider global community, and the similarities and differences between life in the UK and Zambia.

"The children have gained knowledge about international cultures and have gained skills" - Teacher at Whitefield Primary School.

Workshops included:

Our Whitefield Community Banners – Looking at communities in Liverpool and Zambia, designing a picture to represent their local community and then transferring this onto fabric for banners. Zambian and British fabric was used to collage and boarder the banners (Year 1 & 2).

Above you can see the children’s drawings of; school breakfast club; teenagers 'hanging out'; the local park with “a slide that leads anywhere!”; The Liver Building in Liverpool; swimming and playing football with friends.

Our Liverpool Mandala Cities – Looking at the similarities and differences between cityscapes in Zambia and Liverpool, and making a Liverpool mandala city from recycled materials (Year 3).

Above you can see some of the children’s models including; St. Georges Hall, a local parkand churches.

Our Whitefield Wishing Tree – Looking at communities in Zambia and Liverpool, Zambian fabric and its’ various uses, drawing a wish for the community/a picture to represent our school and decorating the tree.

Above you can see some of the children's wishes/drawing hanging on the tree.

In all workshops students were able to access African artifacts to enhance their learning experience, and at the end of the week students work was exhibited in the school for parents and other students to see.

It was a great few days, and students and staff at the school made us feel really welcome! We were even given flowers and beautiful hand-made thank you cards from the children!

NB: More photos coming! We're awaiting permission from the school.