helium inspires: Artsgiving Part Deux

We can’t believe it’s been a year since we partnered with Croissant Park Elementary! Our non-profit, helium inspires, started working with the Fort Lauderdale based school to bring art back in their classrooms. Our mission with helium inspires is to promote and encourage art education for kids, allowing them to feel inspired while doing what they do best – be a kid.

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Our first official event with Croissant Park was for Thanksgiving in 2015, appropriately titled Artsgiving. Since then we have met with a handful of classes in various grades throughout the school year. This holiday season we got to hang out with 2 first grade classes and make turkey puppets for the second installment of Artsgiving.
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There is always an initial hesitation with the kids – unsure of their capability, talent and creativity. But once we tell them there are no rules and they can have fun, amazing things happen. We work one-on-one with many of the students to demonstrate ways to break the confines of what they think they should do, instead encouraging them to use their imagination and trust their instinct.

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The outcome is always awesome.
By the end of our hour-long visit, kids are showcasing turkeys with five eyes and hats, blue birds, and King Birds. The helium team is always left inspired by the seemingly unlimited creativity these students have, especially when it’s nurtured.

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Most importantly we were able to go around and find out what each student is grateful for this year. They then wrote their gratitude list on the turkey to showcase for Thanksgiving. So many students listed their number one thanks to Mom, Dad or Big Sis!

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One of our favorite gratitude acknowledgements came from one student who wrote: “I’m thankful for everyone because everyone likes me.” Needless to say, this one made us smile!

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Materials included:
Paper bags
Construction paper
Googly eyes
Feathers
Pipe Cleaners

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Shoot us a message if you are interested in having helium inspires volunteer at your school or organization to bring art to kids. We are always looking for additional volunteers, sponsors, and donors! Contact us for more information.

Follow helium inspires on Facebook!

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