6.7.2010

Today the girls created a whole array of clay animals. The "National Park", as the girls called the collection of their works, included cows, pigs, goats, dogs, elephants, a zebra, a bumble-bee, a cat and a giraffe. We´ll now describe how the animals were created.

We began with a warm-up where the group members, with their eyes closed, held a ball of clay in their hands. This mindful task was led by Laura who encouraged the girls to observe the clay through their senses, for instance feeling the weight, temperature and other qualities of the material. We were hoping that this would turn the girls´ attention inwards. The group engaged well and seemed to enjoy the experience.

The following activity was to model an animal figure out of the clay. "If you were an animal what animal would you be?" was our instruction for the art work. It appeared easy for the girls to begin the work, which was done in silence in the circle. The clay seemed to absorb the girls´attention and the atmosphere became at times quite serene. After the clay work was finished the girls were asked to give their animals a name and to write it down in the notebooks provided. We also suggested that the girls would ask their animals how they were doing and then write the animal´s responses. The girls were also informed that they were welcome to write more about the animal and its thoughts. The art works and the stories were shared in the group afterwards.

When expressing the reasons for choosing a particular animal most girls had chosen their favourites (giraffe, zebra, cat) or an animal that can provide nourishment, milk, or meat (cow, pig, goat). According to the girls stories, most of the animal figures were doing "fine", "good" or "happy". However, there were two stories that were different from the others. In one of them a giraffe was feeling hungry and tired and in another a cat was craving for milk. In the girls´ narratives they were both offered food and thus taken care of.

We think that the art work and the subsequent sharing was emotionally meaningful for the whole group. After the workshop, while we were still cleaning up the space, half of the group returned to continue their stories for a while.