Whitfest is an annual art festival held at the Whitfield Community Centre. Each year a programme of workshops is offered for kids to take part in, the workshops range from ceramics to gardening, from dancing to film making.
This year I was asked to run Animal Art and Performance workshops. Over the week the kids made and decorated a habitat consiting of a pond and a tree then made costumes and performed as the animals from the habitat.
We had some wonderful animals, from foxes and butterflies to newts and dragonflies, even a hedgehog and an army of marching ants!
I asked the kids to suggest animals that they might find in the pond or the tree, then they either made a costume or a drawing to add to the collage. As the collection grew I asked them to think about what their animal might eat, or be eaten by and how they all connected to create a whole ecosystem.
We also thought about how the animals move and behave and the noises they make, then acted this out in the habitat.
Here are just some of the photos from the week:
Beth Savage 