Here’s a simple art and science activity that was very well liked by my students. An illustrated summary of the project was published in the late, great Canadian magazine Green Teacher in Issue 103, Spring 2014. This activity, if introduced and narrated in a careful yet light-hearted manner, can help youngsters learn so much about ecological processes. At the same time, they can also gain firsthand experience working effectively and patiently with a partner – even as they develop their their aesthetic taste in terms of selecting color combinations. This enjoyable, multi-step process of choosing bright strands of soft yarn and then coordinating hand and arm motions with a friend results in the creation of a lovely, small, wearable artwork that they can take home or share. Physics (including concepts such as potential and kinetic energy and self-assembly) and biological / ecological topics (such as interdependence, mutualism, and energy flow through food chains), as well as Social and Emotional Learning / SEL (with respect to agency, cooperative social behavior, and executive functioning skills), and art skills (including the exercise of aesthetic judgement, and motor control in the arms and hands), and more, can all be taught though this pleasant adventure in ornamental rope making!
Article from Green Teacher:
This is a fine children’s activity to include in community festivals designed to enhance peoples’ awareness of ecological realities, including their sense of joyful belonging within Nature and the Cosmos at large. Making these little bracelets can help nurture happy associations with learning about food webs, plant life, and the amazingly interconnected natural world – even as youngsters acquire new and rewarding capacities for making art.
The poster below is an example of the how this general project was adapted to symbolize not only energy flows, but also pollinator and plant mutualisms, and consequently, the importance of organic methods in human food production and eating. When a visual aid of this sort is displayed, you and other volunteers can focus on coaching the youngsters regarding the actual process of making bracelets and on transmitting the science concepts in a manner that is well suited for the specific children engaged in the project. At the same time, interested family members and / or other visitors can inform themselves about the broader goals of the project. A document of this kind allows passing adults to learn (at their own pace) about the ways in which this particular activity mimics / models the intertwined mutualisms and energy flows that are at play in earthly ecosystems. These interactions between solar energy, various chemical elements & compounds, and living beings generate this planet’s intertwined, complex, and lovely habitats, just as the strands of spiraling yarn interact to produce the colorful bracelets. Hopefully, consciousness of these ecological realities (and gratitude for humanity’s inclusion in the mix) can be reinforced by families once they know a bit more about the symbolism connected with the pretty bracelets that their youngsters are making, wearing, sharing, and / or taking home.
Below is a pdf of this one-page explanation of the project. It can be readily printed, enlarged, and / or laminated. The printed version can then be displayed (together with other educational and outreach materials) on the table that you’re using as the staging area for the selection of yarn.
Why Make a Bracelet, W. Morris border EB 2019*The Green Teacher archive lives on behind a paywall at the Outdoor Learning School and Store (Outdoorlearning.com).