Every week, Serve the City volunteers meet with the kids from the Koekelberg reception centre in their cosy activity room. A part of the team helps the older ones with homework and other schoolwork, whilst the others spend time doing crafts and playing games with the centre’s younger residents. The kids and volunteers really look forward to these weekly sessions!
Eda, one of the project leaders, noticed that all kids, no matter their age, were very drawn to the colourful Play-Doh. They all love how they can mould the material into any shape they like. Eda is herself passionate about ceramics, so she invited Silvia from Terracotta Atelier to collaborate and organise a ceramic clay activity for the kids.
Together, they planned a workshop that was held at the Koekelberg centre. With the help of a team of volunteers, the activity room was transformed into a serious ceramic atelier. To begin, everyone received a clay ball to freely explore and create a shape of their choice, much like they do every week with the Play-Doh. The kids made animals, flowers and cartoon characters. This really got the creative juices flowing.
The second portion of the activity consisted of creating a clay face. Some kids decided to make an imaginative face, while others made a depiction of themselves, their friends, parents, or other close ones. The volunteers were there to guide and support the kids in the process. But more importantly, they were there to have some fun with the kids!
The wonderful people from Terracotta then took the faces with them to their atelier to fire them. Once the faces were ready, they were returned to the kids who got to marvel at their creations and take them home with them. The kids, parents, and volunteers loved the activity, and they already look forward to the next workshop. If you have ideas of your own that you would like to turn into a fun activity, don’t hesitate to let us know!
