Pinwheels for Peace, a belated post

For several years in my school district, my art students participated in the global project called Pinwheels for Peace, under my direction, on the International Day of Peace.  I posted about our participation here and here.  Now that I am retired, I thought it would be fun to get a different group of children involved in this terrific (non-political) activity, which, by the way, was originated by two art teachers. (Aren't we great?!)

I am an active member of our community's small Reform Jewish congregation.  My son attended the Temple's religious school during his youth.  My son is now grown, but as I said, our congregation is small, so I still know  the people involved with the Temple's religious school.  The current principal of the religious school just happens to also be the mom of a group of adorable young triplets, who also just happen to share a birthday with my son, though 19 years apart.  When I proposed the Pinwheels for Peace project to her, she was enthusiastic, and so, during the first religious school class of the school year, the kids learned about the project, discussed the meaning of the word Peace (as defined from the Pinwheels for Peace website: "a state of calm and serenity, with no anxiety, the absence of violence, freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people")  and decorated their pinwheel paper.  There are only approximately 20 kids in the school, so I brought home the artwork and assembled the pinwheels for the following class.

Here is the youngest class, with their teacher (who happens to be a former religious school classmate of my son!) and a teenage helper.  They are working very hard on their pinwheels.

 

The two girls in the front of the photo above are two-thirds of the triplets, and the third triplet is this handsome young man below. Besides sharing birthdays with my son, his first name is also the same as my son's!  What a fun coincidence!   Nice coloring job!

 More youngsters, hard at work.

During religious school on Sunday, September 22 (actually a day after the official International Day of Peace), we took the children outside to 'plant' their pinwheels in front of the sukkah, a temporary outdoor structure built as part of the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.  Each student stated what Peace meant to him or her as they did their planting.  It was lovely out, but rain was anticipated later in the day, so the pinwheels were taken back inside, and displayed planted in baskets for everyone to see.  Several days later, with better weather, the pinwheels were replanted outdoors, this time near the road to be seen by passersby.

  

Above:  In front of the sukkah, getting ready to 'plant'. 

(That's me in the dark pink, and that's our Rabbi on the left. )

 Above, two young sisters take turns proudly planting their pinwheels.  

Below, one of the triplets enjoys a little time to run with her pinwheel!

 As a matter of fact, all the kids enjoyed running time, watching their pinwheels spin!

 

Next year, we'll do it again; bigger and better!!  I'm looking into materials for making weather-proof pinwheels. 

Peace, Baby!

Looking for a great way to kick off your school year with spirit and meaning? For three years I started my school year with a celebration of the International Day of Peace, which takes place annually on September 21st, with a Pinwheels for Peace installation.

You can click here to see my prior post about this wonderful event, which was developed by two art teachers!

Celebrate PEACE with a pinwheel art installation

Have you heard of Pinwheels for Peace? This is a wonderful interdisciplinary project, non-political, combining art and literacy for an outdoor art installation celebrating the concept of PEACE. The idea was dreamed up by two Florida art teachers (aren't art teachers the best?!), and with the help of the Internet, it has become an international phenomenon. All around the world, on September 21st, the International Day of Peace, people will be 'planting' pinwheels. It was estimated that over 3 million pinwheels were spinning last year for this special event! Participating is a wonderful way to kick off your art program for the year, with a message that will resonate postively in your community.

For details about the project, how to sign up, instructions, photos, and more, visit the official website at: http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/pinwheelsforpeace/home.html

When I decided to do this post, I hunted everywhere on 3 computers (home, school, laptop) for my photos and I can't seem to locate most of them, and the ones I do have have lots of images of people that I can't post. So I'll have to describe the pics I can't locate. Photos posted are from our 1st year.

Basic pinwheels can be constructed from a square of paper a pencil, a bead, and a straight pin. EASY!

Our first year, my 3rd graders arranged their pinwheels in the shape of a peace sign. Other grade levels scattered their pinwheels randomly. As each child planted his pinwheel, he/she told what peace meant to him personally. Answers included everything from fishing on the lake, to reading a good book, to spending time with family, to cuddling with a favorite pet, to more global statements.

Each grade level did their pinwheels a little differently - some were on colored paper, some on white, some on metallic vinyl. The 6th graders made theirs taller, by putting straws over coat hangers.

The 2nd year, we used all the pinwheels to spell out the word PEACE in 7 foot high letters. It was spectacular, and why can't I find the photos?? We measured out and spray painted the letters on the grass, so that the kids just had to plant their pinwheels along the lines.

For the 3rd year, we went BIG. I bought bamboo poles at the dollar store, in the garden supplies. I put an eraser tip on the end of each pole, and then assembled with the bead and pin method. The pinwheels ranged from 3 to 5' tall!

For 3 years we've had between 200 and 300 pinwheels spinning in the breeze. So pretty!

If you decide to participate, the big thing is to have a plan for assembling the pinwheels. I thought the 5th and 6th graders would be able to do it themselves, but I was wrong. So the 2nd year, after the kids had completed their artwork, I had a wonderful team of moms (and one grandma) doing an assembly line of pinwheel production after school. We had a great time and they all got done! Unfortunately, the third year the moms' schedules did not jive, and one mom (who later became my student teacher) and I assembled them all ourselves. It took a LONG time.

We got lucky each year with spectacular weather. Teachers took their classes out to plant their pinwheels and share their thoughts, and the community response was wonderful - I was worried that someone would infer a political message, but it did not happen.

One big thing though - make sure you run it by your administration before diving in. An art teacher in an area school made pinwheels with her kids before asking her principal, and when he found out, he had the teacher send the pinwheels home without ever displaying them. I think he was incorrectly assuming the day had some sort of leftist liberal political agenda and he didn't want any fallout. Encourage a skeptical administrator to look at the website for reassurance. I teach in a fairly conservative Republican community and didn't have even one negative comment. If you handle it right, it will be a great experience for all!