Ways to use dolls to remember trips for children

All of a sudden it's the last week of the English school year, and now all my projects are finished for the summer I have lots of stories, images and ideas I'm planning to share on here. Today I'd like to talk about using dolls to remember trips for children, which is something I have been developing recently.

Since last November I have been one of the artists on the Overground project with Artspace which was an introduction to outdoor arts practice and the life and work of Kurt Schwitters. I was working with two classes of Year Two children at South Walney Infant School. As the children are only 6 and 7, I knew I would need to think of fun ways to document the trips we took as part of the project.

All of the work we made was based around the idea that little people lived in the woods surrounding Kurt Schwitters' studio the Merzbarn in Elterwater. I knew we would be going on a visit to the Merzbarn, but that this would seem very far away when we returned to the classroom. So I decided to make two characters who could represent both these imaginary little people and the children themselves.

I made the two dolls using wooden bendy doll bodies that I bought from Myriad Natural Toys and Crafts. These are great as they are easy to make and look very sweet, but their legs and arms can be positioned in different poses for photographs. I wrapped the arms and legs in embroidery thread, made clothing out of felt with embroidered details, added wool for the hair and finally drew on the eyes and mouths with colouring pencils and pens. I loved making these dolls. I worked on them in the evening while we watched films, adding tiny details like pockets and embroidered natural patterns to make them look like they lived in the woods. I felt that it was worth putting some time into them so I could use them for other projects in the future.

I wanted to make two dolls, one female and one male, so the children could identify with them easily. The girl doll developed into Mildred, a curious and brave little character. Her smaller brother Monty turned into a character who is slightly more naive and easily distracted, so Mildred can sometimes be a bit bossy to keep him focused on the task at hand.

I used Mildred and Monty from the beginning of the project, hiding Mildred in a little fairy house for the children to meet as I introduced them to the ideas behind the work and explained to them what we were going to make.

I then took photos of her on a visit to a lake one weekend, in this little story Mildred visits Coniston Water. 


When we went on the trip to visit Kurt Schwitters' studio the Merzbarn in Elterwater I took Mildred and Monty along in my pocket and photographed them throughout the day, doing all the activities the children had done on the trip.

So here's an extract from 'Monty and Mildren visit the Merzbarn'.

Mildred had climbed up higher to get a better view. 

'Look Monty!' cried Mildred, 'There's the Merzbarn! We found it!'. It had a sign that said "Merzbarn. Kurt Schwitters. 1948." 

Can you remember what the Merzbarn looked like from the outside?

They looked through the window. 

What did you see when you went inside? 

Inside it was dark, but they could see a huge photo against the wall, showing what the Merzbarn had looked like in the past.

They went inside and stood in front of the photo of the installation. 

What did you think when you looked at the photo? 

'It had interesting shapes didn't it?' said Mildred. 'Look I can see a tin can there'. 'Yes,' said Monty, but its a bit of a shame the real sculptures aren't still here'. 

They also found a candle in the room. They spent some time standing in front of it and thought about Kurt Schwitters working there in the barn, collecting objects and then pressing them into the wall.

I told the children this story back in school, using the photographs of Monty and Mildred's adventure to encourage them to think about the day and share their own memories. We also made a model of the Merz Barn out of cardboard, and put Monty and Mildred in the window looking inside.

I've found using these dolls a very effective way of reanimating a journey for younger children. They absolutely love the dolls and they seem to really fire up their imaginations, they were asking me questions like 'Are they really real?' and 'Where do they live?'. This is definitely something I'll use again with children of this age, and I can imagine all sorts of storytelling workshops we could do using the characters as a starting point. I'll also use it with my own daughter when she's a bit bigger to record days out and help her reimagine where we've been.

Here are a few things I learned along the way:

- Take the photos in secret, that way it doesn't spoil the surprise when you show them the photos and makes it all a bit magical and exciting.

- Its best to get other adults to look after the children somewhere else while you take the photos. This gives you time to hunt around a bit and find good places to set up little scenes for your story. At the Merzbarn I sneaked off and took the photos while the children ate lunch.

- Take along some tiny props like a little wicker basket, some cups, a miniature picnic blanket. These can really help to make the story more interesting, for example your doll characters can have a picnic lunch, or collect tiny things on their walk.

 - When taking photos try to use a variety of different shots, framing and picture compositions as these will make the photos more interesting as a collection when you present them to the children.

- Take some time to sit and write a little story, including any fun or special moments the children experienced.

- Include atmospheric experiences like the weather or the sounds and smells the dolls encounter, as these will trigger the children's memories of the day. Bringing smells like wild garlic in to use as you tell the story is even better.

- Include questions in the story, giving the children the opportunity to think about the visit themselves and add their own experiences and interpretations of the day.

- Be brave! You might feel a bit silly, especially when strangers will look at you with a curious expression on their faces. But it will be so worth it when you are sitting with the children and see their faces of delight as you all share the story together!

Making Martha

Hello there! If you've read my blog before you'll know that recently I've been having lots of fun making small dolls using wooden bendy rope doll bodies (I got mine from here).

I've found that they are a great addition to storytelling with young children, so I've been photographing them on all sorts of adventures that I then show to classes as a slideshow with an accompanying story.

I have an extremely talented friend called Kate who runs her own knitwear company creating beautiful hand designed and made scarves, tops and cushions using natural fibers. You can look at her wonderful wears here at Oubas Knitwear. She had told be that she loved reading about Mildred's tiny journeys, so for her birthday I made her a little friend to keep her company in her studio - Martha!

Because Kate in a knitwear designer and maker I knew Martha needed to be wearing a knitted item of her own, so I made her a tiny snood using embroidery thread and blunt sewing needles.

I made her hat using the same method as my Felted hats for tiny people tutorial. 

I found her a little basket which I put a note in, and she carried some dried flowers and bluebells ready to go to her new home!

 

I'm pleased to say she was a very well received gift! If you like these little dolls keep checking in on here as I'll be sharing some more little person adventures soon, and even giving one away on my Facebook page Ellie Arts in the near future!

Felted hats for tiny people

It's so nice to be writing on here again after a big break! We seemed to have a never ending chain of illnesses at our house for a few weeks, and with work to juggle around it I decided it was best to let my internet world sit quietly for a bit.

But it's also fun to put a little post together. So! Last month I put up my 'Woodland peg people' tutorial, and talked about how I was going to make these little wooden people with one of the schools I'm working with at the moment. I made the original hats by coating the heads with PVA glue, and then winding wool around it to make a little beanie. But the children I'm working with are only 6 years old, and I quickly realised this would be very challenging and quite unfulfilling for them. So I put my thinking hat on, and came up with an easier way to keep those tiny heads warm.

First I made several large sheets of felt, using the method I showed in this tutorial.

It wasn't easy because they looked so nice, but I then cut them up into lots of small triangles.

Taking a soon-to-be tiny peg person I coated the top and back of the head in PVA glue.

I wrapped the longest side of the triangle round the head, and used a blob of glue to hold the ends together at the back.

I then added a bit of glue to the top,  and folded it over to meet the back.

Creating a really sweet little hat! I think I like it so much because it looks a little bit like animal ears. You could also sew to it, making it likely to last longer and adding a bit more detail.

I took this example into the workshop, but what I loved was how the children used the felt triangles in lots of different ways. Some skipped the last step to make pointy hats, others stuck the felt on to make long hair, scarves or cloaks, and some made big headbands. Making art with kids I always learn so many new ideas because they are basically much more creative then me! Here's an example of one of their completed peg people.

It was great fun seeing all their tiny unique people be created. Hopefully those little triangles will have inspired them to make lots more peg people at home!

'Fake' felted moss

One of the projects in a school I'm working on at the moment is making a tree trunk dolls house for a world of tiny woodland people. Although we are using some found natural materials like sticks and twigs, I didn't want to damage anything that was living. But it seemed like our world wouldn't look right without moss for the forest floor, so it gave me the perfect opportunity to do some felt making with the children. 

I'm not a very experienced textile artist, but its such an easy and fun process to make felt I thought I'd share it here today. I know there are a million felt making tutorials online, but I couldn't find anything about making 'fake' moss, so perhaps it will be of use to someone else in the future. So first things first, I looked at some moss.

I then collected the materials together. I put down some bubble wrap on the tabletop to protect it, and then lay an old towel over the top. I then used a bamboo mat, a piece of netting, a bar of soap  and some beautifully soft merino wool rovings.

To begin I tore off tiny pieces of wool, and lay them all horizontally on the mat.

Once I'd laid out a thin rectangle of one colour, I began to add different shades of green, this time putting the wool on vertically. 

Then I added a few haphazard bits to make it look more organic.

I lay the netting over the top, and squirted it all over with soapy water. 

I rubbed it with my hands in circular motions. I then rubbed the whole thing with the bar of soap and added more water.

Now that it was nice and soapy I continued rubbing the netting in circles until I could see that the wool beneath was felting together. 

Once I was happy it was working, I removed the netting, rolled the felt up in the bamboo mat, and rolled this back and forth 15 times. 

I turned the felt the other way round, and did the same again. (At this point I added another cloth underneath as my towel was getting a bit soaked).

I peeled my felt off the bamboo mat, and rinsed it thoroughly in hot water, then cold water, then warm water. I also rinsed the soap off the bamboo mat. Finally I placed it on the mat one more time and rolled it 10 times, before rinsing it in warm water and placing the felt flat to dry. 

I thought it looked pretty mossy! Maybe not botanically correct, but a lovely colorful material to add to the tiny world.

The children at the school really enjoyed making their felt too, they seemed to appreciate doing an activity that was so immediate and tactile. I love how different every piece is, and how the colours change depending on how the wool was layered.

Of course when Mildred saw the felt pieces the children had made she thought it looked like the perfect comfy bed for a tiny person to rest on! I'm looking forward to showing the class her cheeky use of their artwork at the beginning of the workshop next week.

Happy felting!