THE SOFT TOYS AS A CONSOLATION PLAY-OBJECT IN SCHOOL AFTER THE COVID PERIOD. THE “TEDDY BEAR PROJECT” IN PRIMARY ART CLASSROOM

Authors

  • Katerina Kokkinaki PHD Candidate, Department of Interior Design, University of West Attica, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v10i4.4786

Keywords:

teddy bear, play object, emotional development, joy & art, holistic learning

Abstract

Right after the post-COVID era, first-grade primary school children not only had to adapt to the school environment but also to make up for the social and emotional isolation they had experienced in the previous two years. Pupils experienced great difficulties in terms of their emotional response to the relational social networks that develop during their integration into primary school. This need, created the "Teddy bear project", a project that was shared with all first-grade classes in an experimental primary school in Greece. The project was carried out in three phases, during which, the students worked with their teddy bears in the art workshop. The transitional soft toys provided the children with feelings of comfort, companionship and intimacy. The children had the opportunity to observe themselves through their dolls and their classmates through their own dolls. Children developed empathy for others and made connections through their play-objects to themselves, their classmates and the school environment.

 

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Author Biography

  • Katerina Kokkinaki, PHD Candidate, Department of Interior Design, University of West Attica, Greece

    Katerina Kokkinaki is a graduate of the Department of Visual and Applied Arts of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2008) with a degree in painting and an Integrated Master’s degree from the same school. She is a graduate of the Interior Architecture Department of the School of Graphic Arts and Artistic Studies of TEI of Athens (2000). She is a PhD candidate from 2021 at the Department of Interior Architecture, School of Applied Arts and Culture, PADA. She is a member of the auxiliary teaching staff of the same school while she teaches the visual arts course at Ralleia Experimental Primary Schools, is in charge of the Visual Arts Group for students and the educational training for young art teachers in the visual arts course (Mentoring), while at the same time, she carries out her experimental applications in the same school. She has been teaching in primary and secondary schools for the last thirteen years the subjects of Visual Arts, Drawing and Art History, and has been a lecturer in Art & Design colleges and schools in the subjects of Decorative Applications, Perspective Drawing & Sketch and Color in Space. She has implemented pilot projects, innovative school projects and European projects, many of them with a focus on the use of digital environments. In addition, she has presented and coordinated experiential workshops on educational topics at conferences and her research work has been presented in scientific journals. As a visual artist, she has held three solo exhibitions, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions, international art fairs and experimental festivals.

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Published

2023-04-23

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 4 (2023)

Section

Articles

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