The purpose of my visit was to test out the majority of the materials to evaluate my activities. The main activities that I had the kids tried out involved the ceramic tiles from Mimosa Studios; markers and other writing utensils from SCRAP; and yarn from The Naked Sheep Knit Shop.
Overall, I think the visit went very well. There were five pre-school age (3-5 years old) girls there who did most of the "testing out." I brought out the ceramic paints, but they were more interested in drawing on the tiles with markers. They were especially excited that they had a piece of their artwork that they could take with them. I can imagine that a lot of the crafts they make do not last long, which explains their wonder and excitement at receiving their tiles.
This showed me that perhaps the activities should be simpler, since most of the kids in the shelter are about 3-5 years old. I will probably alter some of the activities to fit these observations. Of course, I will still include in more complex activities such as collaging for the older kids.
The next time I visit on August 2nd, I hope to test out the collaging materials from Collage if there are any older kids there. I will also try again with the ceramic tiles from Mimosa Studios to see if the paints are necessary or if the kids are satiated with drawing on them with markers.
Here I have attached a few pictures of the children drawing on their tiles (with permission, of course).
