Building dens with the children!

Children were presented with the idea of aliens!
They have loved it !

The children were all so excited to talk about their den creations and ask each other questions about them.

PLACES (People, Location, Architecture, Community, Environment, Sentiment) our collaborators, helped us understand and prepare us for working with children. We were shown previous projects that they had undertaken in Manchester and explained how we could help the children explore their creative side by creative a narration and encouraging them to experiment and involve their different sense in the project.

In preparation for the building of the dens, we created some weird and wonderful creations that could be used as a source of inspiration for the children who could use our creations to either incorporate into their dens or just use as a tool to understand how different components could be attached together.

The building of the dens showed how the children learnt to interact with the space available to them but it also showed us how they appropriated the space and created an identity to the place. At the presentation given to us by the collaborators we were told that the identity of a place comes from the quality and intensity of the sensory links. Therefore by building, choosing the design, choosing what materials would be used the children involved all their senses allowing them to give a meaning to the place that they created.

At our presentation given to us by PLACES, an organisation dedicated to working on projects with children we were told that "we work and learn from the children". This experience would be a "creative immersion for the children" and indeed we saw this as they drew and built the different dens. As one of the collaborators said "this is how children see the world and make it their own".

I believe that allowing the children to invent their own stories about the dens surrounding the alien theme brought something to us students as well. Indeed we learnt that there are no boundaries to our creativity. So many different ideas sprouted from a common theme and it was interesting to see how different students could respond to a same subject. I learnt that it is interesting to think outside the box as many children did!

Drawing on the rooftop allowed the children to show their creative side. The drawings led to the invention of crazy stories following our alien theme. The children loved giving names and magical powers to their aliens!

The children loved drawing with the chalk, loved getting their involved in the drawings by using their hands and sometimes even their clothes! Using different color chalks they created wild and wondrous stories about their dens.

Today we went through the photos and films that were taken over the event and picked out the best to use in the brochure.

Showing the children from the school around university was an experience in itself. Who knew that wind coming from air-vents or the air-conditioning by the doors could be entertaining? They loved the different textures and were curious about everything.

We explained that they would be on a mission to build a hidden city to protect them from aliens.

They knelt down to feel the warm air coming from the vents in the ground, which they initially thought were drainage systems to be used if the building floods.

One of the children mentioned that the tour helped her to understand that while the appearance of a building is important, it is vital that it should respond well to the needs of its users.

We took the students on a tour of the benzie building. Their imaginative answers and perceptiveness to tiny details inspired me to take a step back and look at my surroundings in a different perspective.

Session 5:
Our final time with the children saw us take them on a tour around their dens, and asked a member from each group to explain the process of how they built their dens.

Session 5:
As the dens reached their finishing points, we noted that the children decorated their dens. This gave the dens an intimacy and sentimental qualities that only the children could fully understand...

There was a huge variety in the design of the dens...

Session 5:
The den that I supervised had a clear hierarchy of parts, a leave of complexity that I had not expected the children to achieve.

Session 5:
The children, with the help of the students and PLACES, quickly built up a structural system upon which to build and design their dens, their alertness very much to our surprise!

Session 5:
Laying out all the materials on the rood terrace of Chatham and the countdown to the den-building...

Session 4:
Our fourth session was a day of creating short animations of the children's drawings made the previous day. The experience of creating GIF animations was a fun way to learn how to create a quick representation of ideas, and most importantly an enjoyable process at the same time.

Session 3:
Some of the drawings were scaled to giant proportions...

Session 3:
The children then went on to start their drawings based on our narrative...

Session 3:
We then presented the narrative and storyline which we had created for the children...

Session 3:
The children of Friars Primary School interacted with as much as they could...

Session 3:
Friars Primary School came to the Chatham Building for our third session, where we gave them a full tour of the Art School. As we walked around in two different groups we pointed out specific and interesting design features, hoping that the children would explore these possibilities in the design of their dens.

Session 2:
PLACES, an acronym for People, Location, Architecture, Community, Environment, Sentiment, also explained to us their ethos behind the process of work they undertake in their projects. The presentation was extremely helpful in trying to make us understand how children perceive the world differently.

Session 2:
Our second session was a visit to the RIBA Hub on Portland Street where we were given a presentation by PLACES, an organisation dedicated to working on large-scale projects with children. Their recent project was exhibited in the RIBA Hub.

Session 1:
A tiring first day required a moments hiatus to rest our thoughts...

Session 1:
In the afternoon of our first session we also built preliminary structures which we intended for the children to use in the building of their dens. What we found out when building the dens was that the children's creativity extended far beyond our imagination. They began to build the dens themselves from scratch, meaning they did not necessarily require the help of these structures.

Session 1:
DENcity began with a brainstorming of themes and ideas upon which the narrative for the whole project would be based. We split into two groups to produce ideas for a narrative which resulted in the "Secret City"; a journey whereby the children of Friars Primary School would overcome the obstacles facing them on their way to the Secret City, where they would build the dens for watching aliens.

Day 6: Choosing the best photos and captions, and adding them to the booklet. Editing and finalizing our event's pages in the booklet.

"The cat alien says 'Moo Moo' for meow and 'Pee Pee' for knock knock in alien language." - Alivia, 8.

06.08.14 : Pre Den Building Day
Impressed by the children's self directed capabilities. They moved on from drawing out their imaginations / interpretations of their dens from paper to actual concrete floors without being told.

A presentation by the collaborators (Places Projects) at the RIBA Hub. "It is better for the children to explore and find out themselves rather than being told" - John Bishop.

06.08.14 : Pre Den Building Day
Alivia : The way Max (her alien friend) says hello in alien language is 'KOM'

Brainstorming for a narrative of the children's journey to the 'Secret City' and building sculptures as a starting point for the children to build dens.

06.08.14 : Pre Den Building Day
Alivia : We can draw on these concrete floors?
Me : Yes, Of course!
Alivia : Oh My God, best day of my life!!

The den making process was so fun, and not only did the kids enjoy themselves they learnt a few structural tips in order to keep their dens up!

Finally, the den making day! The kids were overwhelmed with all the materials we had for them to make the dens out of, and they couldn't resist grabbing as much as they could.

Inspired by the kids drawings, we all got together and made animations from them. The best bit about doing this, was seeing the kids reactions to their newly animated drawings.

Having been a sunny day, we went out onto the roof terrace and let the kids draw up their designs with chalk. It was inspiring to see all the kids go off on their designs with such creativity.

After touring the kids around the school we showed them the Alien Story we came up. We though that this story would be a good way to engage the kids more with our master plan of the den making process. In the end the kids drew up some really good designs and most importantly, they really had fun with it too.

We meet the kids on day 3, and toured them around Manchester School of Art. Although our hopes were to impress them with our architecture models, they diminished the idea of architecture as soon as we stepped foot into the fashion students workspace. Some of the girls fell in love with the idea of coming to Manchester and other were just having fun playing.

It was interesting to see how the children transformed their diagrams into reality and how they used their creativity to represent different materials.

I was very impressed with the dens that the children created, here they utilised their surroundings and used the walls as added support for the den.

Session 02_
Introductory meeting with external collaborators Places Projects to learn about their innovative approach to teaching.
Viewing the current exhibition in the RIBA hub - as a result of previous collaborative projects on sensory perceptions of the city between Places Projects & local school children

Session 01_
Working in two teams to create a den-building narrative for the KS2 primary school children.
Making sample 'sculptures' related to concepts encompassed within den-building for presentation/discussion with primary school children.

We have took drawing that the children have drew and created an animation out of them.

one of the kids drawing on a post-it note.

one of the times on display at the riba hub.

one of the items on display at the riba hub.

one of the items on display at the riba hub

helping the kids build their dens.

the den.

some of the materials used for the den building/sword fighting.

we shown the kids the animations we created using their drawings. They were impressed and even made guesses at how we did it.

2 of the kids pose for a photo inside their den.

Day 5: Because of rainy weather, we built the dens on the roof of Chatham. Children used so many different materials to build their dens. They also had lunch in them. "I wish I could come here every day. I love this place" -student

Day Three (Afternoon): Using our imaginations to produce big chalk drawings of how our dens could look!

Day Five: Arranging the inside of the den!

Day Five: Playing inside the den!

Day Five: The children proudly showing off their completed den!

Day 4: Animating the children's drawings of aliens and dens.

Lots of fun making the dens today!

Experimenting using a variety of materials and techniques how to keep the structure of the den up.

When designing the dens, the children made sure they took account of the most importing thing.. keeping the aliens out!

Children were excited to go to the roof after exploring Chatham building. They are drawing ideas of their dens and how the aliens might look like. We got them to see the materials they are going to use when building dens.

We went to Places Project in the RIBA Hub. We have been given an interesting presentation on how creative interventions can be used as learning for children. We also were shown the exhibition that was there made by children. Made us look forward to meeting the children and creating dens!

Beginning !
Coming up with a story of a journey children are going to take.
Creating sculptures to be part of children's dens!

Animation!
Today we took the children's drawings that they had done yesterday, and created stop motions out of them. We will present these to the children tomorrow as a starter for the day.

On the tour i noticed how the children preferred kinetic learning in that they were inclined to touch and feel everything along the way in order to experience it as opposed to just looking and being told what it is. Here the children are feeling the decorative concrete columns, and tracing the patterns using paper and coloured pencils.

some of the children working.

playing with the materials that will be used for the dens on the roof terrace.

One of our collaborators and Eamon Cannife talking to the children.

Children working together to draw different things they seen during the tour using chalks on the roof terrace.

one of our collaborators working with the children.

chalk drawing by one of the kids on the roof terrace.