Beloved Bears

There is something appealing about Bears. It is likely you have had a bear in some form or other once in your lifetime – a teddy bear toy as a child or perhaps a gift for a card. Or perhaps it was a favourite childhood character. When I first thought of the having Bears as a theme for the last 5 weeks, I did not expect how much it would be enjoyed by the children in my Art Classes.

For each week, we focused on observing and drawing on a particular bear species. As always, I spent time researching on the themes and topics for each week; looking for relevant resources that would not just inspire the children but also to have the tools that would facilitate creativity. Sharing it with the children and having time to talk, engage and discover is such an amazing process

Panda Bears was the first topic. I usually include a clip from National History Documentary. But for this topic, we were actually able to watch a live broadcast of Panda Bears in Chengdu, China! We had great fun learning about the Spectacled Bear. Many were surprised to learn that the illustration of Paddington Bear is based on this particular Bear. The Polar Bear and the Sloth Bear (which inspired Rudyard Kipling’s Baloo) were the remaining two topics. On the final week I gave the option to work on a completely different Art medium. I recommended Air Dry Clay but I had one Creative painting with Coffee another tried Watercolours for the first time. We all had a blast!

Creating creative pieces with Bears together has not only just been fun but also inspiring. Perhaps the cuteness of bears appeals to the children. As someone who enjoys learning about Art History, I was amazed to learn about the Chauvet Cave where there are Cave Drawings of Bears drawn over 32 000 years ago! To think that we millennials later continue to draw these amazing animals.