The mobile of hope (Part 2)
You are now at the second part of your creative project! If you have already finished the first part—Creative Conception—you can continue your quest with this activity. But if you haven't finished the first part yet, then start with that one, then you can come back here.
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| Objective: To create a mobile of hope made up of hopeful messages! |
Duration: 60 to 90 minutes
Material:
- Sheets of paper or cardboard
- Coloured pencils and markers, eraser
- Scissors, glue, tape, arts and crafts materials
- Wood or plastic sticks
- String
Instructions:
- Reread your sheet. Take a moment to reread your ideas and review your Creative Conception draft. This will refresh your memory and perhaps give you some new ideas before you get into the final part of your project.
- Create the mobile of hope. Here we go! It's time for you to create the mobile of hope you have imagined! First, draw, cut out and assemble the elements that will accompany the messages of hope that you have collected. Then, tie all these elements to strings and attach them to sticks. Finally, tie the sticks together to form a cross, or use strings to create different levels.
- Inspiration: If you need inspiration, try looking up pictures of mobiles online. For example, those made by sculptor Alexander Calder are really inspiring! Yes, building a mobile is an art! You'll see that there are plenty of different ways to put them together.
- Variation: If you don't have the materials necessary to build a mobile, you can also create a beautiful collage with all the elements you have gathered.
- Think about your creative experience. Finally, after you have finished, you can ask yourself: How did it go? Did you succeed in realizing the vision you had at the beginning?
- Conception: Does your creation represent what you think hope is? How do your creative choices reflect your perspectives on the concept?
- Application: What lessons can be learned from your interpretation? Is there a balance to be struck between hope and reality? Can we hope for anything? Why or why not?
- Alternative: What could you have changed? Are there nuances that you didn't include? Does hope always bring lightness to life? Can hope be heavy to carry? Why or why not?
You can write your answers on the back of your conception sheet to keep track of your evolving thoughts.
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Bonus: Have you ever heard about someone sending a "message in a bottle?" It’s something that castaways used to do: They would write a message, put it in a bottle and throw it into the sea in the hope that someone would find it and come rescue them. What if you wrote your own message in a bottle, as if you had found it washed up on a beach somewhere? Imagine that the message was written by someone who lives in a faraway country and wants to share their greatest hopes. Write these hopes on a piece of paper and then, to make your message even more realistic, cut out the paper as if it were an old parchment that had crossed the oceans to get to you! Finally, roll up the paper and put it in a bottle: A small transparent bottle would be ideal, but any bottle light enough to be held by the mobile will do. Finally, add it to your mobile! Ask yourself the following questions: Do all human beings have the same basic hopes? Or do we hope for vastly different things depending on our culture and environment? Are some hopes more important than others? Why or why not? |
| Tricks for tots: Imagine that a fly was flying around your mobile. Picture it zigzagging between slips of paper, dodging strings, and landing on things it finds particularly interesting... What would it think of the human hopes it sees there? What hopes could the fly have for itself? If you’d like, build a mini fly mobile! With a few small objects or pieces of paper, show what you think the fly's hopes are. Finally, think about these few questions: Is it possible for a non-human animal to hope? If so, do you think humans’ hopes are different from those of other animals? Are there things for which all living things hope? Why or why not? |
| Tips for teens: If we all have hopes, how should we treat the hopes of the people we love? Maybe the best attitude to have is to support them, no matter how likely it is that their hopes will come true. For example, a parent might foster their child's hope to one day be awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry, even though that hope seems pretty unrealistic. Supporting that child's hope may encourage them to learn and work towards a goal. But wouldn’t it also lead to bitter disappointment the day the child realizes the inevitable futility of their hope? Should we warn a friend who hopes to become a famous singer that they should focus on something else, given their lack of musical talent? Should we respect other people’s hopes no matter what? Why or why not? Is crushing someone's hopes the worst thing you could do to them... or could it be the most loving thing to do? |
Share your creative reflections by sending them via email.
Include photos of your projects and notes of your thoughts, as well as your first name and your age!
