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Might be of interest for individual practice

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Artists take risks, but they should not have to risk their lives. Nevertheless, global watchdogs document hundreds of cases each year of artists who are attacked, imprisoned, and even killed for their work--and countless more cases go undocumented.

In response to these realities, ARC has developed A Safety Guide for Artists, a first-of-its-kind manual that offers practical strategies for artists to understand, navigate, and ultimately overcome risk. While such tools have been developed for journalists, human rights defenders, and cartoonists, no guide has been designed specifically for artists. The Safety Guide for Artists fills this crucial gap in providing artists with a resource tailored to their needs.

When an artist first faces risk, there are not a lot of roadmaps: the experience can be incredibly isolating and disorienting. A Safety Guide for Artists explores topics such as defining and understanding risk, preparing for threats, fortifying digital safety, documenting persecution, finding assistance, and recovering from trauma. Tips and strategies were drawn from testimonies of artists who have faced persecution, including Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera, Lebanese singer Hamed Sinno, American visual artist Dread Scott, and Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, as well as the research and expertise of ARC's vast network of partners.

The guide is available in English, Spanish, and French. Click the "Download PDF" feature at the top of this page to access the pdf versions.

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Artists take risks, but they should not have to risk their lives. Nevertheless, global watchdogs document hundreds of cases each year of artists who are attacked, imprisoned, and even killed for their work--and countless more cases go undocumented.

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DIYStudio introduces you to architecture and guides you through the design process in stages: Explore, Research, Design, Present, Reflect.
You will have the opportunity to design your own architectural space, learning and experimenting along the way. All you need to get started is internet access, paper and a pencil!

Start and finish anytime, DIYStudio is an ongoing project.

Share your ideas on Instagram or Twitter using the following hashtags - #IAFarchitecture #DIYStudio #Project20x20

The resources shared through DIYStudio are part of the Architects in Schools Student Handbook. The handbook was developed though the Architects in Schools initiative, and along with the Facilitator Handbook was published by the Irish Architecture Foundation in 2019.
WEEK 1: EXPLORE
Click to downloadExplore - Architects in Schools

Activity 1: Be Inspired - A Virtual Tour
We invite you to take a virtual tour of world architecture!
Resource: http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/be-inspired/

Useful starting points for your Virtual Tour:
https://www.archdaily.com/
https://www.dezeen.com/architecture/
https://www.designboom.com/

Activity 2: Space Study - A Familiar Space
Look at a space in your home or in your immediate neighbourhood in a new way!
Resource: http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/space-study/

Some inspiration for your Space Study: https://www.pinterest.ie/1starchitecture/architectural-sketches/ WEEK 2: RESEARCH
Click here to download Research - Architects in Schools

Activity: Design Brief - What? Who? Where?
When an architect designs a building or a space they work from a design brief - this is a set of instructions for the design project. This week you will be doing some independent research in order to write your own design brief.

What will you design? Think about function. What activities will take place in your building, large or small? What would be useful for our society right now? A new type of social centre, a socially distanced sports facility or a community hub?

Who are you designing for? Yourself, your family or friends, a local community group or a local business adjusting to a new way of operating?

Where will your design be located? Due to the current restrictions on movement, now is a good time to explore your local neighbourhood. Is there an empty site or a disused building nearby? Visit your site and make some quick sketches. Note the orientation and local building materials. Explore the site on google maps.
http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/category/blog/ http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/design-idea/ http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/user-survey/ http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/map-your-space/ http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/investigate/
WEEK 3: DESIGN
Click here to download Design - Architects in Schools

Activity 1: Concept Design
Now that you have completed the Research stage, it's time to start designing! You know what you are designing, who you are designing for and where it will be located. A concept is a main idea or starting point for your design, in response to your Design Brief.
Resource: http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/design-idea/
Activity 2: 2D Drawing
The next step is to develop your concept design ideas through drawing. Try out some freehand sketches to express your ideas! Drawings are a very useful part of the design process as you can see the design taking shape.
Resource: http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/2d-drawing/

Activity 3: 3D Model
Modelling your idea in 3D will help you to think about the spaces, structure and form of your design. You can use everyday materials (e.g. cardboard, food packaging) to explore your ideas. Minecraft and SketchUp can also be used to design virtual 3D spaces.
Resource: http://www.mydesignjournal.ie/students/3d-model/
WEEK 4: PRESENT
Click here to download Present - Architects in Schools Activity: Prepare your Presentation
Presenting your design project gives you the opportunity to share your ideas. Share your work on Instagram or Twitter using the following hashtags - #IAFarchitecture #DIYStudio #Project20x20

How will you tell the story of your design? Consider the reasons why you made your design decisions - refer to your Design Brief (Who, What and Where?). You can take photographs of your drawings and models and share them online. What images work best to communicate your ideas effectively?

WEEK 5: REFLECT
Click here to download Reflect - Architects in Schools

Reflecting on your work is an important part of the design process.

Explore, Research, Design, Present and Reflect are part of the Architects in Schools Student Handbook. The handbook was developed though the Architects in Schools initiative, and along with the Facilitator Handbook was published by the Irish Architecture Foundation in 2019. Click here for more information and to download the handbooks. If you have any questions please email us: learning@architecturefoundation.ie Architects in Schools is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, the Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the Department of Education and Skills.
Activity: Reflecting on the design process
What inspired you most about the design process?
What new skills did you develop?
What would you do differently in the future?

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DIYStudio introduces you to architecture and guides you through the design process in stages: Explore, Research, Design, Present, Reflect. You will have the opportunity to design your own architectural space, learning and experimenting along the way. All you need to get started is internet access, paper and a pencil!

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We asked three teacher trainers to record some video tips for encouraging creative thinking.

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We asked three teacher trainers to record some video tips for encouraging creative thinking.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Creative thinking is a vital life skill which enables us to imagine, innovate and respond to unexpected or changing situations. Over the last few months, we have all had to get creative in the way we work, teach and learn, in light of the global pandemic. Now more than ever, we can see the importance of encouraging our students' creative thinking.

A traditional school curriculum doesn't always leave a lot of space for imagination or divergent thinking, and not all students will be used to thinking creatively in class. Therefore, it's important that we give them a starting point for creative activities. You can use almost anything as a prompt for creative thinking; from images and video to other stories, diagrams or objects.

We asked three teacher trainers to record some video tips for encouraging creative thinking.

1. Creating a story from a picture

In Will's video, he suggests you use a picture as a starting point for creating a story. You can use any picture but it will need to show at least one person. Ask your students questions like "Who is in it?" 'Where are they?" and so on. Then ask students to choose one person in the picture to write a story about. Give them prompt questions to help them, like "What's their name?", "Why are they there?" and "What are they going to do afterwards?". Finally, ask students to share and compare their stories. This will help them appreciate the differences between their stories and how they've used their imagination to create something new.

2. Creating stories

Emma suggests using an alternative prompt for storytelling: another short story. Choose a short story for students to read and respond to. Then adapt it by removing short sections of the story and ask your students to fill the gaps with their own creative ideas. For lower-level learners, you can remove short sections like names, places and activities. For more advanced students, you can remove longer sections, like descriptions and dialogue. Finally, ask your students to share their stories with the class. You can turn this into a game by asking students to guess what other students might have written. By doing this, you are encouraging students to imagine different ways the story might unfold.

3. Making problems for your students

Encouraging students to think creatively will help them prepare for uncertain or unexpected situations. In Greg's video, he suggests building problem solving into a project or task-based lesson. Give your students a task or project that involves creative thinking, for example, planning an event like a sponsored swim. Then while the students are doing their task, provide a dilemma to resolve. In this case, tell them the chosen swimming pool is closing. The more realistic the problem, the better, as students will have to use real-world logic to resolve it. Finally, ask your students to exchange their ideas. Seeing different points of view will help expand their creative capacity, as they will learn from each other.

These ideas are equally valid if you are teaching remotely. Provide the 'input' during class time and use breakout rooms or homework to give students the time to write their stories or complete their projects. You could use your local situation as an opportunity to develop students' problem-solving skills. Ask your students to plan an activity which would usually be done in-person, like an end-of-term celebration. In groups, get them to come up with ways that you can celebrate remotely or in a socially-distanced way. You could even ask them to brainstorm ways they can learn better remotely or return to school safely. Not only will this help them develop their creative thinking, but it will also give them a sense of control in this new uncertain world we are living in.

I hope you enjoyed these videos from our teacher trainers.
Join us next week for more tips on teaching life competencies in your secondary classroom. In the meantime, why not check out our previous article: Critical Thinking: video tips to develop teens' critical thinking skills.

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Creative Thinking: Develop Teenagers' Creativity | World of Better Learning

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Creative thinking is a vital life skill which enables us to imagine, innovate and respond to unexpected or changing situations. Over the last few months, we have all had to get creative in the way we work, teach and learn, in light of the global pandemic.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Creative thinking is a vital life skill which enables us to imagine, innovate and respond to unexpected or changing situations. Over the last few months, we have all had to get creative in the way we work, teach and learn, in light of the global pandemic. Now more than ever, we can see the importance of encouraging our students' creative thinking.

A traditional school curriculum doesn't always leave a lot of space for imagination or divergent thinking, and not all students will be used to thinking creatively in class. Therefore, it's important that we give them a starting point for creative activities. You can use almost anything as a prompt for creative thinking; from images and video to other stories, diagrams or objects.

We asked three teacher trainers to record some video tips for encouraging creative thinking.

1. Creating a story from a picture

In Will's video, he suggests you use a picture as a starting point for creating a story. You can use any picture but it will need to show at least one person. Ask your students questions like "Who is in it?" 'Where are they?" and so on. Then ask students to choose one person in the picture to write a story about. Give them prompt questions to help them, like "What's their name?", "Why are they there?" and "What are they going to do afterwards?". Finally, ask students to share and compare their stories. This will help them appreciate the differences between their stories and how they've used their imagination to create something new.

2. Creating stories

Emma suggests using an alternative prompt for storytelling: another short story. Choose a short story for students to read and respond to. Then adapt it by removing short sections of the story and ask your students to fill the gaps with their own creative ideas. For lower-level learners, you can remove short sections like names, places and activities. For more advanced students, you can remove longer sections, like descriptions and dialogue. Finally, ask your students to share their stories with the class. You can turn this into a game by asking students to guess what other students might have written. By doing this, you are encouraging students to imagine different ways the story might unfold.

3. Making problems for your students

Encouraging students to think creatively will help them prepare for uncertain or unexpected situations. In Greg's video, he suggests building problem solving into a project or task-based lesson. Give your students a task or project that involves creative thinking, for example, planning an event like a sponsored swim. Then while the students are doing their task, provide a dilemma to resolve. In this case, tell them the chosen swimming pool is closing. The more realistic the problem, the better, as students will have to use real-world logic to resolve it. Finally, ask your students to exchange their ideas. Seeing different points of view will help expand their creative capacity, as they will learn from each other.

These ideas are equally valid if you are teaching remotely. Provide the 'input' during class time and use breakout rooms or homework to give students the time to write their stories or complete their projects. You could use your local situation as an opportunity to develop students' problem-solving skills. Ask your students to plan an activity which would usually be done in-person, like an end-of-term celebration. In groups, get them to come up with ways that you can celebrate remotely or in a socially-distanced way. You could even ask them to brainstorm ways they can learn better remotely or return to school safely. Not only will this help them develop their creative thinking, but it will also give them a sense of control in this new uncertain world we are living in.

I hope you enjoyed these videos from our teacher trainers.
Join us next week for more tips on teaching life competencies in your secondary classroom. In the meantime, why not check out our previous article: Critical Thinking: video tips to develop teens' critical thinking skills.

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Creative Thinking: Develop Teenagers' Creativity | World of Better Learning

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Creative thinking is a vital life skill which enables us to imagine, innovate and respond to unexpected or changing situations. Over the last few months, we have all had to get creative in the way we work, teach and learn, in light of the global pandemic.

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Essentially, the aim of the project is to capture on video a story, skill or tip that has helped people to deal with the pandemic and lockdown in order to pass it onto the community.
The videos/ TikToks can be emailed to museum@galwaycity.ie and a selection will be posted to the Museum's website/social media as a learning resource.

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Artists' Exercises

Artists' Exercises (æ) is a platform for sharing and distributing fragments of artists' educational strategies - with contributions from over fifty international artists.

Artists continuously donate their exercises to be shared on this platform and we ask that if you use them, you make any kind of donation to our selected charity War Child.

The platform facilitates new ways and ideas of teaching - Artists' Exercises encourages and offers a framework in which artists and educators can share their exercises for others to use and apply to their own teaching practice.

The exercises are for educational purposes only and provide re-produceable activities that migrate through this platform to new contexts of action and knowledge production with different educators. Artists' Exercises places an emphasis on and supports the important role of art education in a global dialogue about what and how we learn.

Via this main website, æ collects and distributes these exercises and maintains them in constant circulation. The exercises are free and easily accessible. We support individuals and small organisation using these exercises, however if you as individual, school or art institution wish to make an exhibition, book or any solid form that derives from the exercises found on this website, we request that you contact us so we can accordingly ask the artists for permission.

All proceeds go to a nominated charity, War Child.

Please donate here.

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Artists' Exercises (æ) is a platform for sharing and distributing fragments of artists' educational strategies - with contributions from over fifty international artists. Artists continuously donate their exercises to be shared on this platform and we ask that if you use them, you make any kind of donation to our selected charity War Child.

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Have you ever planned the best lesson in the world? It might have looked something like this: Your students are engaged in discussion, they're excited to see all the artwork shown, they're asking wonderful questions. Then, it's time to create...and they all just sit there.

The blank stares on your students' faces, might not be because they are uninspired, rather that they're overstimulated with ideas and don't know where to start. This scenario is why teaching creativity in your classroom is so important. Here's how to get started.

What is Creativity?

Let's look at the word creativity. According to Google, in its simplest form, creativity is, "the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work." Many of our students, and even adults, view creativity as an innate gift-something they are born with. However, it is a skill that can be taught. Athletes aren't born to be professional athletes; it takes discipline and practice. Creativity can be viewed in this same way.

Researcher Dr. George Land conducted a creativity test that showed creativity was highest in young children and steadily decreased into adulthood. He concluded that non-creative behavior is learned. It is our duty as art teachers to foster creativity as a skill rather than unlearning this behavior.

Let's stop looking at creativity as a noun and instead think of it as a verb. We can do this by exposing our students to activities that promote creative and divergent thinking.

5 Creativity Activities to Try with Your Students

1. Camouflage Drawing Challenge

The camouflage drawing challenge is a great exercise to foster creativity. Although students are participating in the same activity, the process of divergent thinking will emerge because none of the solutions will be the same. Start by giving each of your students a small scrap of paper with a design already drawn on it. Cut up coloring pages work great for this. Glue the scrap of paper down, and have students add their own designs. The goal of this activity is to make it challenging to find where the original design began. Starting with a small scrap of paper will lead to a new, creative design.

2. Color Mixing Challenge

Some of the best creative learning experiences come through exploration and play. Creative play occurs when students are using familiar materials in unfamiliar ways. In a middle school classroom, students are familiar with paint but might not use it playfully to explore something new. This color mixing game is the best way for students to engage in play while learning new concepts.

3. Left and Right Brain Drawing Activities

Almost every art teacher is familiar with the work by Betty Edwards, in particular, her book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The activities in her book have continued to work in classrooms for decades. The activities Edwards presents force artists to become uncomfortable and think differently.

Drawing with your non-dominant hand.

Drawing with a material attached to the end of a ruler or long stick.

Upside down drawing.

4. Design Challenges

Solving problems is at the root of creativity. Utilizing design challenges is an apparent way to show students how different solutions can be used to solve one problem. Typically a design challenge will have a prompt or a challenge to solve. Using the materials provided, students develop a solution. Consider having students collaborate on these tasks as collaboration can be a key way to foster creativity.

5. Painting Musical Chairs Style

For many of our students, the fear of failure might inhibit their creativity. When creating, if their design doesn't turn out as they've imagined, they can feel frustration and defeat. We need to teach our students how to overcome these feelings and turn mistakes into celebrations.

One of the best ways to do this is by creating in the style of musical chairs. Any medium can work for this activity, but paint seems to work best. Students start with a blank piece of paper at their table and begin creating any artwork they want. When the timer goes off, or the music stops, students move to the next seat leaving their painting behind. They will then add onto to their neighbor's painting. Continue this process until time runs out or each student has made it around the room.

When students return to their seat, they might be thrilled or not so excited with the way their painting turned out. Use this as an opportunity to challenge your students' creative thinking to turn their artwork into the finished piece they desire.

Incorporating exercises and activities that encourage creativity will help your students develop independent, divergent thinking skills. These are key components to ensure our students don't get stuck and can continue innovating to solve problems. Try incorporating one of these activities in your art room to start fostering a creative environment for your students.
What is your favorite activity to encourage creativity? Do your students struggle with being creative?

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5 Activities to Open Your Middle Schoolers' Creative Brains - The Art of Education University

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Have you ever planned the best lesson in the world? It might have looked something like this: Your students are engaged in discussion, they're excited to see all the artwork shown, they're asking wonderful questions. Then, it's time to create...and they all just sit there.

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A manual of experimental walks to experience our surroundings in different ways

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Backwards Walk:
Walk backwards for fifteen minutes through the city.

Balance Walk (Leaning Duets by Trisha Brown):
Find a partner, join hands and maintain a balance by tilting away from the other in an angle, composing a V, while the edges of your feet meet in the center. Take tentative steps in the same direction.

Barefoot Walk:
In the middle of winter, with ice or snow on the ground, find a place in public a few hundred meters from a warm inside environment. Take your shoes off. Walk until you start losing the feeling of your connection to the earth, then walk inside. Have towels and mildly warm water waiting for your feet.

Blind Walk:
Start in a place that is unfamiliar. One person is blindfold; one person guides. Start walking. The blindfolded person tries to make a loop back to where you started walking.

Diagonal Walk:
In a public space, walk only diagonal lines to get to a place 1km away.

Ever Walking Walk:
Pick a place across the city. Make your way, use public transportation to get there if you want. Do not stop walking no matter where you are - in the subway, while waiting etc - until you arrive.

Estimation Sound Walk:
In groups of two to five people, ask one person to stand still and close their eyes. Ask the others to stand next to the person with their eyes closed. Ask them to say here. Counting their footsteps, ask them to walk some distance away from the person standing still with their eyes closed, and then to stop. Ask them to say here again. Note, the person saying here should say the word with the same volume as they said it the first time. Have the person with their eyes closed guess how far away they have gone and to point to where they are.

Estimation Walk Pick something around you and guess how many footsteps it would take between where you are standing and that thing. Walk that number of footsteps to that thing. Keep doing this for some time.

Estimation Walk (Time Your Space):
Define a distance (300m; to the tree over there). Establish a slightly unreasonable amount of time to walk there (3 min; 30 minutes). Walk without stopping. Do now look at a watch as you walk. Try to arrive on time.

Extended Body Walk:
Make a simple prosthetic device (out of cardboard) to fit onto a particular part of your body. Attach the device. Set a destination relatively far away from where you start. Walk there.

Fukashi Walk:
Pick a word or characters which has some significance to you. With a group of people, try to walk those letters or characters in a large scale and in a public space. Walk those letters or word over and over until you become the word you make.

Lay Down Line Walk:
With a group of people, lay down in a long line, head to toe, in a public space. Starting at the head of the line, ask the last person to stand up and run or walk to the other end of the line and lay down. Ask the new last person to stand up and walk or run to the end of the line. Repeat this with each end until everyone has walked or run at least three times.

Map Walk:
Copy a map from another city. Use that map to find your way across the city you are currently in. Referring to the map, ask strangers where you are and to help you find the place you need to find.

Measure Walk:
In public space, pick something at eye level or below, that is within easy walking distance. Estimate the size of that thing using your fingers and arms. Hold that measurement with your fingers or arms and walk to that thing. Keep doing this for some time.

Net Walk:
With a group of people, ask everyone to extend their arms out at full length. Ask everyone to space themselves so that their fingertips are just barely touching the fingertips of the people next to them. Trying to maintain this distance, walk through the city for ten minutes.

Periphery Walk:
Put your hands out to your side until you see your hands disappear. Keeping your hands at the boundary of your peripheral view, and keeping your head pointed straight while focused on your sides, walk through a part of the city.

See Walk:
With a route in mind, use a mirror to orient yourself in reflected space. Walk the route by looking into the mirror to see where you are going.

See Walk, Double Reflection (A Two-Person Variation):
As performed in See Walk, use a mirror to reflect on where you are going. In the two-person variation, find where you are going using someone else's reflection. Self-organize a choreography of slowness and seeing so that each person is simultaneously holding the other person's way of seeing, where you are looking, where you are going, and how you get there together.

Silent Walk: With a group or alone, walk through part of a city without speaking for at least 30 minutes. While walking, give continuous and focused attention to the loudest sound you hear around you by looking in every direction in which you hear something.Slope Walk:
Start on the top of a slope. Look down the slope trying to see it as level. Walk down the slope as if the slope is level.

Slow Walk:
As a group, walk very ,very, very slowly for 15 minutes in public. Feel your weight on the ground. Feel your balance shift. Feel each part of the slow motion as it is distributed though your entire body. Don't forget to breathe.

Smell Walk:
Start some distance from where you need to go. Find your way by hitchhiking on different smells you encounter. If you lose one smell, ride on another until you arrive. Allow detours.

Sound Walk (Circle):
Start standing in a circle in a public space. Walk away from each other along different radii while saying "hello" to the people standing across from you. Keep walking your radius and screaming hello until you can no longer hear a "hello" from anyone in your circle saying hello. Walk back to the center saying hello.

Sound Walk (Line):
Line up a group of people. Saying the word 'hello' to the person on both sides of you, stretch the line by increasing the volume of your "hello" as you move away from each other. See how far you can walk in audible range of "hellos" on both sides of you. If the line breaks, move closer to the last "hello". (Find a way to see and measure the whole sound line.)

Straight Walk:
Starting as a group in public space, each person picks a thing at some distance away. Try to walk in a straight line to that thing and back.

Take a Stand Walk:
Sit down while traveling on a form of public transportation. At some moment on the way, take off your shoes. Stand up in the place you are asked to sit. Keep standing there for some time while just being yourself.

Your Attention Span Walk:
On your way to somewhere else, focus on something around you. Look only at that thing. Think about nothing other than that thing. Let all other thoughts pass through you. When you arrive at that thing, pick another thing to focus on. Keep doing this over and over for some time.

Please send documentation of your walks to the Institut für Raumexperimente:
institut (at) raumexperimente.net

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Walk Manuals | Institut für Raumexperimente

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Backwards Walk: Walk backwards for fifteen minutes through the city. Balance Walk (Leaning Duets by Trisha Brown): Find a partner, join hands and maintain a balance by tilting away from the other in an angle, composing a V, while the edges of your feet meet in the center.

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Fablefy - mindfulness for kids

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3 Minutes Body Scan Meditation - Mindfulness For Kids And Adults

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3 different artists share a challenge a day for the month of January

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The January Challenge - 64 Million Artists

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The January Challenge is 31 days of fun, quick and free creative challenges to kickstart...

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Directory of Creative Schools TV content including youtube links

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Creative Schools TV_Directory of Resources

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Collection of artists' educational strategies with contributions from over 50 international artists.

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Artists' Exercises

Artists' Exercises (æ) is a platform for sharing and distributing fragments of artists' educational strategies - with contributions from over fifty international artists.

Artists continuously donate their exercises to be shared on this platform and we ask that if you use them, you make any kind of donation to our selected charity War Child.

The platform facilitates new ways and ideas of teaching - Artists' Exercises encourages and offers a framework in which artists and educators can share their exercises for others to use and apply to their own teaching practice.

The exercises are for educational purposes only and provide re-produceable activities that migrate through this platform to new contexts of action and knowledge production with different educators. Artists' Exercises places an emphasis on and supports the important role of art education in a global dialogue about what and how we learn.

Via this main website, æ collects and distributes these exercises and maintains them in constant circulation. The exercises are free and easily accessible. We support individuals and small organisation using these exercises, however if you as individual, school or art institution wish to make an exhibition, book or any solid form that derives from the exercises found on this website, we request that you contact us so we can accordingly ask the artists for permission.

All proceeds go to a nominated charity, War Child.

Please donate here.

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Artists' Exercises (æ) is a platform for sharing and distributing fragments of artists' educational strategies - with contributions from over fifty international artists. Artists continuously donate their exercises to be shared on this platform and we ask that if you use them, you make any kind of donation to our selected charity War Child.

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suitable for first/second year students

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Downloadable Book

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The Covid-19 pandemic is a considerable source of worry for children and families, and young people are having to cope with big changes at home and at school. In response, Children's Books Ireland, in partnership with Jigsaw and ISPCC Childline, is launching Mind Yourself - the Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading Guide today (Monday, October 5th 2020).

October 10th is World Mental Health Day - an international event that promotes mental health education and awareness. A recent UNICEF report found that children and young people in Ireland are struggling with their mental health, with Ireland placing 26th in the survey of 38 OECD countries when it comes to the mental wellbeing of children. As readers, we know the comfort books can provide during a difficult time and there is robust evidence to support this: reading for pleasure can have a positive effect on mental wellbeing, can build empathy in children and young people and is positively linked to better outcomes in later life.

The Mind Yourself reading guide is a resource that can be used by adults - parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers - to support and educate young people in relation to mental health and wellbeing. The guide contains reviews and recommendations of over 400 books for children and young people from birth to age eighteen and is designed as a 'first-aid kit' for worries, sadness, loneliness, anxiety and any number of feelings that a young person may want to explore. Mind Yourself also contains mental health and wellbeing information from Jigsaw and ISPCC Childline, including tips and coping strategies for young people and advice for adults on supporting children to build resilience. The guide is available free of charge through every library authority in the Republic of Ireland and a digital version of the Mind Yourself Reading Guide can be viewed or downloaded here. Should you wish to purchase a copy of #MindYourself please click here!

Tarsila Krüse, creator of the original Mind Yourself artwork, said:
When asked to create an image for the Children's Books Ireland Reading Guide 2020 covering the theme of mindfulness amidst a global pandemic, I was, like many, inundated with emotions and feelings. Excitement, fear, happiness and anxiety all at the same time and I wanted that to show through my work. Being a book lover who finds solace, discovery, learning and growth in books I began drafting numerous ideas to express both looking inwards as well as outwards through a book, but none of them felt quite right. Then a sparkle of an idea struck my mind. I'm learning Irish and there's a lovely curiosity in how feelings are expressed in the Irish language - a person doesn't "have a feeling" but a "feeling is on" that person - it is something that exists outside the body, that comes and goes like the wind. That helped me develop the idea that WE ALL carry around feelings and emotions, and much like clouds they sometimes hang right above us. Some are fleeting and light, others are full of thunder and power, therefore I created plenty of those feelings and emotions clouds that we all have. I chose to create a non-gender specific character, a lovely dog who is carrying feelings around and processing all of its emotions with a book. That's what I want everyone to know: books are an absolutely wonderful tool to understand and process our feelings, those curious clouds we carry around, so we can discover, explore, learn and grow inside and out.

Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children's Books Ireland, said:
Mind Yourself was born in a pandemic and is published during an unprecedented time as children and young people return to school following a period of isolation. We want to recognise the very valid feelings that may arise during this time and to provide support for adults who may need a way to start a difficult conversation with a younger person, perhaps by reading a story aloud with them, by leaving a book on their bed with a note or by giving them this guide with a book token to find their own way through it. As always, we want our guides to enable children and young people - with the help of a family member, carer, teacher or librarian - to find the right book for them at a particular time, and if they're struggling, to tóg sos le scéal or lighten the load with a book.

Dr Joseph Duffy, CEO of Jigsaw, said:
In Jigsaw we offer a listening ear, give expert mental health advice and support to young people, parents and guardians, and schoolteachers - and do our best to be there when young people need us most. But we know that there is always so much more that can be done. More young people we can reach. And to do so we need to work together as communities, as partners, and as friends. Working together with Children's Books Ireland on Mind Yourself - The Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading Guide is another creative way of doing this, of reaching and being there to support the mental health needs of even more young people across Ireland. We know from our Read Your Mind project the power of reading as therapy in supporting mental health and wellbeing. The power of stories and words in helping guide and support both adults and young people. So, we are really excited to be part of this fantastic project.

Caroline O'Sullivan, Director of Services for ISPCC Childline, said:
ISPCC Childline is delighted to be included in Children's Books Ireland's Mind Yourself - The Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading Guide and to provide guidance for children, young people and parents/carers on building resilience and looking after their mental health,' said. 'Reading is an important activity for children and young people, it can provide an escape and allows our minds to be creative which can help in boosting our moods. Childline receives over 1,000 contacts a day every day from children and young people across Ireland on childline.ie and our volunteers help make sure every child and young person in Ireland always has somewhere they can turn.

Children's Books Ireland would like to thank each and every one of the 140 Mind Yourself reviewers, the 9 section editors, English language proof reader Emma Dunne, Irish language proof reader Shanna Ní Rabhartaigh, designer Fintan Wall, and illustrator Tarsila Krüse. Thanks also to the following advertisers for their support: Hachette Children's Group, Michael O'Mara Books, The O'Brien Press, An Gúm, Nosy Crow, Gill Books, Walker Books, Butler Sims, Andersen Press, Bloomsbury Children's Books, KPMG, and An Post.

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The Covid-19 pandemic is a considerable source of worry for children and families, and young people are having to cope with big changes at home and at school. In response, Children's Books Ireland, in partnership with Jigsaw and ISPCC Childline, is launching Mind Yourself - the Mental Health and Wellbeing Reading Guide today (Monday, October 5th 2020).

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Copy of 15min Jojo's Daily  Creative Challenges

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Tutorial with Michael Fortune on recording with your mobile phone.

https://youtu.be/LxynYx7wow8