There was not a dull moment while working with the children. Their bubbly personalities and open minds made the event very exciting and inspired me to volunteer in similar projects in the future.

Enjoying their den after a hard day's work.

A finished den.

Hard at work.

Once the dens were built, they decorated them. It was interesting to watch how the decorations of each den brought out the personalities of the student that were involved.

They experimented with different materials and built a sturdy structure for each den.

We let them take a go at documenting the process.

Posing with her self portrait.

One of the traps designed by a student.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5KacMAexYA&feature=youtu.be

We asked the students to draw out their ideas for dens and animated them using photoshop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dee1DhRt0VY&feature=youtu.be

Session 3_Mark-making

Materials used in Den-building

Pondering manufacturing terminology...list of words associated with "making"....discussion over known/unknown words

Den intervention in enclosed areas of Benzie building 4th floor roof terrace with KS2 schoolchildren

Exploring the big model of Manchester with the children of Friars Primary School

We've been showing the kids our university building and explaining them the materials it's made from and what we're doing in it.

Fortification! small details added to the den making it what it is.... a den! the kids have personalised their den uniquely from the others and its the small details that make the big differences!

Perfection. The final touches being made to the den! looks impressive and strong, very castle like!

The interior of a finished den.

The children were inventive and creative when making their dens using a variety of techniques to support them, some using frames and some supporting the structures using the surrounding walls.

A hard days work! Kids settling into their new den.

Children sitting in their finished den.

The sky's the limit! The kids being given a tour of the Chatham building.

Children sitting in their finished den having a picnic lunch.

Children sitting in their finished den. They had a rule that you had to "take your shoes off before you can come in."

The children were given a disposable camera for each den group. Some of the children asked if they could use the students DSLRs, and did so with the help of the students.

Our own private space. Kids getting comfy in the den before its even finished! They must really love it!

Children decided to cover the structure with layers of fabric to protect the inside from external factors such as raining as well as to gain some privacy due to the fact that they had a 'public toilet' on the inside of the den.

One boy wanted to be an alien, so used the materials to dress up! Here he is looking at himself in the reflection of the glass rooflight.

The children were obviously excited to build the dens, running around on the roof collecting as many materials as possible. They worked well together and with the students, collaborators and their teachers, using their imaginations to create some fantastic dens!

Taking building a den personal to you very literally! The kids begin to build the den

We brought some of the materials that would be used to build dens out to the roof terrace so the children could see what they would have to build with and play with the items.

Using chalk to draw on the roof.

Using chalk to draw on the roof.

After lunch, the children used pens, paper and chalk to create their own drawings of dens, the aliens and what they had seen around the School of Art.

The final structure of the den that children built themselves was very strong and stood solid on the ground throughout the day as children went in and out of the den.

Materials found, gathered and donated for the den building!

Chalk drawings covering the roof terrace.

We scanned in the children's drawings and turned them into short gif animations. While the children had been out on the roof, a student was photographing their work and the children pointed and said "look an alien!" calling it the popcorn alien, so this was turned into an animation.

Children were enjoying the warm weather as they were using their imagination to illustrate everything that they have observed today starting from the experience in the Chatham building to aliens hinding in dens.

Using chalk to draw on the roof.

The children were sent home from the day happy but covered in chalk dust!

Before children built their dens, they were shown an animation of their drawings which they have completed on the first day of their visit.

After lunch, the children used pens, paper and chalk to create their own drawings of dens, the aliens and what they had seen around the School of Art.

At one point on the tour, the two groups of children spotted each other across the atrium!

Taking the children on a tour of the School of Art. The children noted the triangle shapes used for the bridges. Later one girl drew out triangles in chalk, saying "I'm drawing triangles because they are really strong."

Taking the children on a tour of the School of Art.

The children were encouraged to touch all the surfaces and materials. They were interested in all the different textures of concrete used in the building.

The children found all the different activities and subjects going on in the open studios very exciting!

The children from the Friars Primary School in Salford visit the School of Art. Our tour began in the entrance, and the children were asked to look up, which caused lots of gasping and "wows". They tried to guess how many times they could fit their school into the space.

A range of materials were presented to children in order to build their dens.

Working as a team, the first and second year students created a story that would be told to children to get them excited. The story will take them on a journey from their school to the city in search of aliens! Looking out for key landmarks on the way, such as the Blue Mountain (blue pedestrian footbridge) and the Control Tower (the Renault car garage).

We visted the RIBA Hub where our collaborators PLACES Projects are based for a talk about their approach to working with children in a collaborative and creative way. Their exhibition 'Going Places, Growing Places' as part of the Architecture School for Children had its opening the night before so students were able to look around the display.

On tuesday we were able to interact with the school children, and it was really interesting to see how they analysed the Chatham building.
Some of them were using language to describe what they experienced in ways I would have never thought to

"Will you still be around when I come back?" - Mabel, 8.
"Will you be my teacher when I come to study here?" - Sara, 8.

The children from Friars Primary School storm the MSA! The open roof level became their art gallery showcasing their drawings of the dens that will protect them from 'aliens' which they will be building in the next session.

Children are getting enthusiastic with their task.

DenCITY!
The dens came along really well, and it was really interesting to see how the children put them together, and then used them.

Den building!
Finally it was the day to build the dens! Unfortunately the weather didn't permit us to be in cathedral gardens as originally planned, so we took to the roof terrace at Uni. The children first were split into 4 separate groups, and started off by picking all the materials they wanted to use to make the dens.

children were briefed on the roof of the school of art. They were given chalks and coloured pencils and encouraged to use the floor as a canvas, as well as sheets of paper..

Building the shelter with all the materials we had

One of the kids with her drawing made with chalk at the roof of Manchester School of Art

Last thing we had to do was to create indesign booklet to show what we have done with the children.

Children were enjoying working together to come up with the ideas and discuss them between each other.

Day 2
Working to build something that will catch up the children's eyes.
The same day we made stories and a map with our drawings to make the event entertaining.

Working with the children from Friars Primary School was one of the best experience I have ever had throughout the years in studying architecture. Why must all good things come to an end.....

"The best part about working with children is co-learning. You learn from them and they learn from you." -John B.

First and second year students working hard in making the children's drawings come to live. "How did you make the aliens fly...?" asked one of the children.

The different kinds of materials that were collected by the coordinators within a month before the event started which were used by the children to build their dens.

One of the children drawing how she imagined her den would look like.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
The outcome of the children's hardwork. Their very own DenCity. They build the walls, roof and base out of cardboard materials. They also provide a proper entrance, window openings and a TV set for their den. It was very interestin to witness the children's capabilities in building the den out of materials which need alterings in order for it to work best. The outcomes of all four dens were beyond our imagination. I personally was really impressed.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
Brandon and his two friends were playing around once the den was finished.They created their own pillow from cardboards and play pretend to be asleep. It's amazing how children were acting so spontaneously in their den.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
Each children had their own task/scope of work as discussed with their group. They explore ways to construct from the base towards covering the spaces inside their den. They took their assigned responsibilities really well and were very satisfied with the outcome at the end. The children even highlighted about achieving the aim of having all seven of them to fit inside the den in order to protect themselves from the alien attack.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
The children (in groups) discussed on how they would build their den, with the guidance from the Den Helpers and our Collaborators as well. They learn about give and take situations and the importance of teamwork.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
Children were divided into four groups and each of them chose their own materials which could help them build their DenCity.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
Den Helpers are setting up cameras and video cameras for documentation purposes.

08.05.14 : Den Building Day
The materials are laid at the one side so that it could be viewed clearly by the children. Materials are not given directly as to allow the children to make decisions when expanding their creativity.

06.05.14 : Pre Den Building Day
Alivia and her masterpiece. (imaginary DenCity)

Building dens with the children! Exciting day for us and for the children!

Building dens with the children!