Hi {firstname},

 

Happy New Year to you! I wish you good health, because it is becoming increasingly clear that health is our most precious possession. Have courage to face everything that 2022 will bring. Try to savour the good moments, because I am sure there will be some!

 

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is winter. Whether you see snow outside or only in your imagination, I propose you paint a winter scene.

You can add small objects to the snowman to make this into a real mixed media composition.

 

There are many other ways to represent snowmen, of course. Here are a few that you can find on the Animaplates website:

 

 

So here we are at the start of the third consecutive year with remote learning or masks in school, worrying news on TV and still not knowing when all this will end.

This situation causes anxiety in certain children. They have to face this and be reassured about the future. I am not a psychologist, but I can propose a project to make with the kids.

The worry doll is a tradition that originated in Guatemala. Before going to sleep, children tell their worries or sorrows to the little doll and then, they put it under their pillow. In the morning, the doll has taken away the sorrows and the child has the strength to face a new day.

The mere fact of doing this project with children can be an opportunity for them to verbalize their worries and for you to acknowledge them.

And if the activity is a success, here is how to make a box where the dolls can rest during the day.

 

Because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, museums are again closed here. On the positive side, that means that many museums offer virtual visits that you can enjoy from anywhere in the world.

One place that I found very impressive when I visited it in person is Canada's Cold War Museum. It's not a museum in the traditional sense: it actuallly is a four-storey, 100,000 sq ft bunker where the Canadian government could have sheltered and governed the country in case of a nuclear attack.

This ordinary looking shed hides the entrance of the tunnel that leads to the underground building where 535 people could have survived for 30 days.

The site was kept secret and it was operational from 1961 to 1994. It is now called "Diefenbunker" in reference to the Prime Minister who commissioned its construction, John Diefenbaker. The virtual visit is accessible until January 26.

 

Have a good week!

Joelle

 

 

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