Bee Happy: A Workshop for Children

When I created the character of Madame Beespeaker, this is the kind of event I dreamed of: neighbourhood folks getting together to make art celebrating bees. The event was organized by my friend Bear, who is a wonderful artist and art educator. We are so lucky to have her living in our neighborhood.

Children made messages for the bees to take home and/or to put in the mailbox for the bees that Bear created for her new bee garden. She happened to have some of this old library ephemera which we recycled.


I love this posture of absolute concentration!

Bear's bee garden is planted with different kinds of lavender, salvia, and phacelia.

The children were given examples of images of different kinds of bees to use as inspiration.

My favorite message of the day was written by a serious little boy. It simply said "I like cheese."

Although it was cool for this time of the year, thankfully the rain held off and we were able to stay outdoors. (Click on the image above if you want to read the text.)

The great thing about having these bee gardens in pubic spaces is that the neighbors can see how the plants develop and how the kids can play safely around bees without worrying too much about being stung. We watched a bumble bee taking a nap on the salvia, and another bee foraging in the phacelia.


Bear set up a table for the kids to draw and paint garden markers with pictures of bees and the plants that are in the garden. Everyone was invited to make one to take home and one that would remain in the two bee gardens.


The older kids put on safety glasses and hammered in their own nails, but there were adults on hand to help the younger ones.

A trio of beautiful bees!


The plant name markers are great sources of information for people who want to grow bee plants in their own gardens.

The second bee garden is at the neighbor's house. She organized a honey tasting table which was very popular.

There was also a lemonade stand with proceeds donated to the MOP Garden. I was presented with twelve dollars and seventy five cents. Thanks guys!



Yay for neighbourhood small grants and the fantastic people who put them to good use to create community!


The event was funded by a small neighborhood grant.

Music Monday

One of the ways to encourage families participate in school culture is to have days where you specifically invite parents to participate in events. Music Monday is a great day to do this and our school staff was clever to combine our Music Monday parade with a volunteer appreciation tea. We live in the days of double income families, with both parents often working full time here in Vancouver. This makes it hard for parents to come to events during school time, but if they know ahead of time which days they are invited to the school they might be able to take time off work to come and hang out. Other parents like my partner and I who work part-time and/or are self-employed can participate on these days when it fits into our schedule and so can parents who stay at home full time with younger siblings. I think these are important occasions to create a link family culture to school culture.

Our school librarian has lead a Peace Choir at our school for a few years now and today the choir lead us around the school singing the Music Monday Song. Some students and parents wore bright colours and crazy hats. The clouds were spitting down on us, but we marched and sang. Then the students went back to their classes and the parents stayed for a lovely tea with garden bouquets and bright colourful banners each class made for the occasion.




My son's class writes a Friday Journal at school telling parents what's on their mind at the time they sit down to write. Once you read the journal entry you are invited to write a letter back replying to your child. How Victorian! I love it! This morning I read the journal entry U. had written about the three dimensional paper flowers his class made for their banner. Later today I was able to see the finished product with its lovely origami blossoms. The Friday Journal is a good way to hear about things that would otherwise be passed over or forgotten once the student has left the building. The teacher does not correct spelling errors, but just lets the student get his or her thoughts and feelings on paper. This writing process is another good way to link the art activity to family life. The lesson I learned here is that anything you can send home to engage a conversation between the parent and the child is a valuable tool to strengthen community engagement in arts education.