Toy-making for everybody
This is the most requested and popular toy-making workshop, involving children or families in making simple handmade toys. It's lenght is one or no more than three sessions. Suitable contexts are: primary schools and early stages, museums, local festivals in the parks, community and family events, children’s libraries, and adventure playgrounds.
During the workshop I like meet people and share my view, involving participants in playing with samples of my eco-friedly toys, discussing and guessing how these playthings are made, stimulating people’s imagination. After that, we make some of these toys together. At the end of the workshop, participants are free to take home their creations. These different stages of the workshop are part of the basic principle of my teaching strategy:
the interconnection of playing with, making and decorating the toys. Activities which are an integral part of the setting because one depend on the others, their inter-relation affects the accessible toy-making.
The making process does not require any special manual skills and is supported by the use of simple technology (no electrical tools), transforming recyclable materials and everyday items easily found around the home into real to
ys already tested by children.
So,
from the outset it is important to give the organiser and participants responsibilities for collecting useful and suitable materials for use in the activities. A week before the workshop, ask participants to bring to the venue a little plastic carrier bag with some corks, some metal lids from glass jars and 3 or 4 clean empty soft and clean plastic bottles (no milk bottles).
The same carrier bag will be transformed into a toy!
Most of the times it's enogh to collect soft clean plastic bottles. Eventually, I can contribute at the collection of the materials suitable for the planned activities.
“Thinking globally and acting locally”, these toys are teaching us a joyful way to take care of the world, reawakening children’s participation and creativity.