ACHTUNG: Sie befinden sich im Museum-Online-Archiv 2000. Die Inhalte dieser Seite sind unter Umständen nicht mehr aktuell.

Art Project of Class 2F

An Image of the World

Children's Games Puzzle (Bruegel)

The sub-topic "Children's Games" was the start for our intended project when we blocked all lessons on Nov.16th, 1999, for a day of art and project-oriented teaching for which we had visitors: Mag. Marion Costazza from Vienna University and eight students who had to observe teaching in the course of their own teacher training.

Initially each child could choose one piece of our puzzle showing one section of Pieter Breughel's painting "Children's games". The child was then given a worksheet.

During the next phase the children were to find the correct place for "their" piece of the puzzle in the painting, then explain their ideas to the rest of the class who then had to find the correct place in the painting (which could be seen on a slide) for themselves.

Because of the abundance of games in the painting, an overlay with numbers in the place of the missing pieces had been prepared, which made checking the results much easier.

Looking for a game, naming it and explaining the rules of the game served to teach the children a higher level of communicate competence as well as to look at the painting more closely. This method (used for the very first time that day) helped to approach the painting (whose wealth of detail would otherwise be overwhelming) step by step. It not only kept up the children's level of interest but even raised it.

The closing phase led away from discussing details to a general analysis of the picture which allowed us to gain some insight into Breughel's age and his artistic intentions. The children noticed the sparse if not downright shabby clothing of the children at that time and realised that even unsophisticated things, which can be found outside or in the house, can be used for playing. Kegs, hoops, sticks, balls, ropes and cushions can serve this purpose as well as (if not better than) the expensive technological games of our days.

The children's (intrinsic) identification with the topic and the fact that we approached the subject matter in a game made the children very willing to talk and certainly encouraged them to play the games themselves, to improvise and to invent "new" games for individuals or groups.

Worksheet:

TRUNDLING A HOOP: A hoop is placed on an even path and is held with one hand. A stick in the other hand is hit against the hoop so that it starts to move. It must roll fairly fast so that it keeps its balance. When there is a number of children, you can also have a contest: if one player's hoop falls to the ground, he loses his turn. The first player to get his hoop to the end of the course is the winner.
RIDING A HOBBY HORSE: A hobby horse is easily made from cardboard or wood. Just like on a real horse you can then walk, canter and gallop. When there are several children, they can also organise a race. Have you got any more ideas how the hobby horse can be used?
BOTTLE MUSIC: An empty bottle of jar is easily found. If you blow or puff into the opening, you will find that differences in intensity and distance produce different sounds - deeper ones if you blow strongly, higher ones if you blow only slightly.
THROWING STONES: For this game you need stones of similar size and one, slightly larger, "main stone". You can find all you need outdoors, maybe by a stream or in a wood. The large stone is put on the ground in some meters' distance. All children try in turn to throw their stones beyond the main stone. Since a stone often hits another and thus moves it, the game is quite exciting. Whose stone is farthest away from the starting point?

184 KB