We have drawn and now we are making
It is important for our children to learn the principle that for anything to be properly made there is need to finish it first before one makes it. This might not make sense when we first read it but it makes a lot of sense when we go back to it with much thought. It speaks to the need for the DESIGN stage to any form of making. When we design we imagine and draw what we want to make. We scheme what we are going to make and give it its imagined features. What is made without drawing or designing might lack certain features that the benefit of design would have given it.
When people go wrong in execution, they talk of ‘going back to the drawing board’ and this always implies work and a lot of work. It means things are not working and we need to put thought to it and go back to the scheming stage.
When properly drawn and designed, the making stage swift sails and is more exciting. So Our children at Dramatic Need are excited about going to the second stage of our art, craft and story telling project which is the crafting stage. We now want to make objects out of what we have drawn.
So we are making use of different forms of materials and we are grateful to anyone out there willing to donate any material we may use.
The Children’s Hands
The hand, apart from being the most shy part of the body is the most active. This is demonstrated by the many phrases and idioms in most languages around the hand as a part of the body. People talk of ‘my hands are full, he is a handful, he manhandled me, a bird in the hand, a helping hand, be in safe hands, be out of hand, bite the hand that feeds, hand in hand, hand in glove, hands are tied, have clean hands, right hand man etc.
Our activities at Dramatic Need are helping children use their hands to benefit themselves and those close to them. Some silencing environments and backgrounds render us bound and tied, hence we say, ‘our hands are tied…’The ongoing drawing project at Dramatic Need is untying the children’s hands to tell their stories through their hands.