I love school visits!

Yay for author school visits! I recently got to share my love of writing and creativity with the second graders at Geneva Elementary here in Bellingham, AND I guided them in making their very own journals. We had SO MUCH FUN!

I love doing school visits!

These are kinda what the kids journals ended up looking like (they are the examples). Next to a gnome in the Library.

Some of my favorite comments from kids from the day:

“I think your name (kj) could stand for Kitty of Justice. That could be your superhero!”

“This journal I made is potentially very dangerous. I mean, think of all the paper cuts that it could give someone.”

When invited to share what a journal is or could be, one kid said: “My happy place.”

Other delights: I hung out eith lots of gnomes between sessions (the Geneva mascot) and I did a silly walk next to the silly walk sign. A happy happy day! Thank you to my friend Mrs. Ritchie for inviting me!

Sign up for World Read-Aloud Day!

My name is Kjersten Hayes and I love talking books with kids. I look forward to sharing my picture book THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK with classrooms during World Read-Aloud Day on Feb. 3, 2021. Hooray for read-alouds! Teachers or librarians interested in signing up for a free 20-minute virtual classroom visit can get more information and sign-up here. Thanks!

More art with kids: Class Collaboration Collages

It’s been a happy discovery of the last few years to learn that I have a quiet super power in helping kids love and make art. What a happy super power! For this today I am grateful.

These two collages are class collaborative projects I made with kids. The first collage is made from radial designs created by the 1st-3rd graders who I regularly taught art to this past fall (I went back last month to make this piece with them for their school’s auction). The second collage is made from geometric designs created by 4th-6th graders at the same school (I team taught with their regular art teacher for this project).

I love how each kid’s personality comes out a bit in their individual contribution and how all the pieces come together into a colorful and lively finished whole. I love how pulling the pieces together felt a little like pulling the kids together into creative play. But most of all I just love making art with kids.

Making art with kids

I've said it before on my blog: sometimes when you are busy with the very things that are interesting to blog about, you are too busy to bother blogging. So I've had a full last few months! I have a few posts I'd like to put up soon but how about I start with sharing this collage I made with kids because it's close to my heart.

The last couple years I've been teaching art to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders at a local Montessori school here in Bellingham, once a week for a few months a year. A few days ago I finished glueing together this paper quilt made from collage squares all the kids made. I've been a bit of an accidental art teacher but honestly it's become one of my favorite and most rewarding things that I do. I'm so grateful that I get to make art regularly with kids (at least during the months I'm teaching). This piece is for the school's fund-raising auction. I'm pretty psyched at how it turned out. But mostly I like that each square makes me think of each kid who made it and that makes me smile.

School Visits in Malaysia

 I've officially made two school visits while in Malaysia.

 Both were at my son's school; once with 3-to-4-year-olds and once with 5-to-six-year-olds.

 SO MUCH FUN!

 I love, love, love working with kids 

(In a parallel universe somewhere I'm probably an art teacher).

I've held back on doing school visits back home because I'm an unpublished illustrator. But now that I think about this, why does that have to stop me? Artists do school visits. I've been a professional artist for a long time.

 So this has got me thinking and dreaming. I hope I get the chance to make paper with many more classes in the future.

 These pictures are of the board about my visit that the older kids put up for Family Day (didn't want to put the actual close-up pictures without permissions; I figured the board is far enough away for blog picture purposes). Below is the beautiful thank you card they made me.