Rainbow fish, a story about kindness, friendship and peace
Students at the British International School Puxi with the direction of teachers, Cindy Gay, Ha Grant, Hannah Roberts, Its Das
Shanghai, China
Three groups of students at the British International School participated in the exchange. The groups sent their art to students in St. Mark’s Preschool in Tucson, AZ, USA; Story Tellers Children’s Center in Santa Barbara, CA, USA; and to Canaan Childcare Center in Canaan, CT, USA.
Message to the Global Art Project for Peace:
“Katherine, We are just about to send our project and I wanted to share the booklet we made about our journey. We made copies for the recipients as well. This is the booklet. Have a great day!”
Cindy Gay
Text from the British International School booklet:
Nursery Global Art Project 2024
Rainbow fish, a story about kindness, friendship and peace.
Children created their own version of Rainbow Fish through crafts, mark-making and using playdough.
Children engaged in retelling the story in their own words and sequencing the plot. They also had great fun enacting and roleplaying the story.
Last, but not least, children participated in class and whole Nursery collaborative projects. The giant recycled fabric Rainbow Fish was undoubtedly the highlight of this unit.
The Project: The background was created from discarded fabric. Students used paint brushes, hands and even feet to fill the canvas with an ocean blue backdrop. They especially liked the squishy feeling of the paint between their toes.
Students brought pieces of fabric from home to create the colourful scales of the fish. The head, mouth, tail and fins were created from items repurposed from the lost and found. Nursery students went through the closet I search of items that would suit the project.
Lastly, all pieces of fabric and recycled material were pieced together to create the iconic Rainbow Fish. Later, the wise octopus and friendly starfish were added to the project.
We were lucky enough to be matched with three schools in the USA, so we took the background and created two more Rainbow fish with the recycled materials at school. In order to help reduce trash and recycle, students used a discarded bouncy castle to create the seaweed and other sea creatures in the background.
Letter from The British International School to their exchange partners:
“Dear Recipients,
“The Nursery Team is very proud of our children and the efforts they made in creating these fish and backgrounds. The ideas of friendship, kindness, sharing and peace is one we hope to pass on to your schools.
“We look forward to seeing what amazing creations you have for us and we thank you ahead of time.”
All the best,
Mrs. Ha Grant
Ms. Cindy Gay
Ms. Hannah Roberts
Mrs. Its Das
