TRACES OF A VISIT TO THE CITY
- Frances Forshlager
- Jan 17
- 2 min read
When you visit a city there are so many sights to see, too many in fact, that you get lost with all the people, places, streets and structures.
You take photos of this, photos of that, people standing together and people looking stranded on busy pathways whilst concrete buildings respond to the sounds which echoes around corridors.
It's all about being a tourist in a city that we all love. It's new, it's exciting, it's better in real life then shown on reel time.
How do children retain the visual sights of a city without the use of technology? Do they create memories in their minds by making connections to landmarks, places of their interest, eating experiences or simply take everything in like a fresh sponge.
Children returning from visits to the city were invited to create their own perception through the use of various paper resources, cardboard and black markers. Each child using their hands as tools for manipulation of the resources before them.
Paper was folded, pleated, wrapped and taped in all directions whilst markers added the dimension of city dwellers going about their business within the concrete jungle. Famous landmarks were included as research books were used for inspiration.
As no city isn't built in a day, neither was this one. It takes time to consider the foundations for such a large scale proposal. Each engineer or citizen was required to work in collaboration to ensure every voice was heard and not overseen by one city planner.
As educators we must consider how to extend on children's time away from our service. What they did meant the world to them and they just don't want to share it through happy holiday snaps parents have curated for morning meeting.
The child wants to share the city experience with their peers through the exchange of storytelling, creativity and ideas. His memories of the city will always belong to him, whilst new memories have been created through an experience using no technology.
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