Developed by Blue Cabin Associate Artist Nic Golightly
Blue Cabin All About Me bitesize activityYou are going to make a selfportrait. This is not an ordinary self-portrait; this is a selfie spoon portrait.
Associate Artist Nic Golightly has designed this activity to help you explore themes one (This is me) and four (People in my life) of All About Me.
This activity is age appropriate for 3 – 99 years olds! It can be repeated multiple times, at different ages. You can run the activity on a 1 to 1 basis, or with a group.
Length of activity: 1 hour
You can set a specific time for making your selfie spoons, or work freely until you have completed the task. Some young people may want to take more time adding details, whilst others may be happy with a simpler design. Either approach should be encouraged.
Resources needed:
• Pens, pencils
• Wooden spoon
• Scissors
• Coloured card
• Double sided tape or sticky glue pads
Optional – fabric, fabric scissors, fabric glue, buttons, googly eyes, textile embellishments.
Preparation
Making an example ‘Selfie Spoon’ of yourself, or someone else that you know is useful. This helps break the ice, but also showcases what the final outcome could look like. This can be shared at the beginning of the session, but it is completely optional.
You should take part in this activity, creating your own selfie spoon alongside the child/ young person. This alleviates the pressure put on the child/young person, removes the need for direct eye contact and also encourages a collaborative, informal and shared space where you are both involved in the activity. This said –if at any point the young person requires more assistance from you, you should leave your activity to work assist them.
Instructions
Lay out all of the materials and ask the young person what they think the activity is that they will be doing. Show them the spoons and each pick one.
You are now both going to transform your chosen spoon into a self-portrait on one side of the spoon. Talk about the materials available to you and how you are both going to approach the task. What features will you add to your spoons? How will people know that it is you? Do you need specific clothes or accessories? You should use this opportunity to ask questions and be inquisitive. Encourage the child/young person to think about how they will present themselves and how their self-portrait shows who they are.
When all of the elements are created, use the double-sided tape or sticky glue pads to attach the hair, eyes, clothes and accessories.
1 Blue Cabin All About Me bitesize activity : Selfie SpoonsWhen the selfie spoons are complete, take your time sharing your selfie spoons and talking about them.
Be complimentary of the features you think they have really succeeded in creating with the materials.
Ask them if they have enjoyed the activity or if they have found it difficult to make it look like them.
Now, turn over the spoons and ask the child/ young person who they would like on the reverse of their spoon. It should be someone important in their life. Who would they like to represent and think about? It might be a person or a pet, a carer or a family member.
Whilst completing this part of the task, ask questions and have a conversation about who the child/young person has chosen to represent. Why are they an important part of their life? Do they see them often? Do they miss them? You will acknowledge who they are and their feelings towards this person.
When the task is complete you should both have a selfie spoon which you can use in further sessions, or keep safe as a memory of your conversation together.
Working with children and young people is not always about writing everything down. The conversation that naturally occurs through the nature of this task will be led by the child/ young person and you should trust this organic approach.
Top tips
This activity is designed for you and the child/ young person to share who you are and who is important in your life. Before the session you should consider what information you are happy to share about yourself. Think carefully about what you are sharing and why you feel it is important to the session. The focus of this session is on the child/young person, but by sharing who you are on a basic level, this can help the child/young person open up and share who they are too.
This activity is a great ice breaker when first meeting a child/young person, or an activity to think about identity with someone you have worked with before.
You can extend this activity by making a number of selfie spoons of different people in the young person’s life.
Learn more about the six All About Me themes here.
Find more bitesize activities, which you can use to help children and young people explore the various All About Me themes, here.
Here are some suggestions for prompts and questions you could ask during the Selfie Spoon making activity. These can be tailored or altered to be age appropriate.
Creating your Selfie Spoon
- We’re going to transform these spoons into selfie spoons. Shall we make them look realistic? Or shall we make them ridiculous and a bit daft?
- Which materials will you use to create your hair? Clothes? Eyes? Nose? Mouth?
Will your selfie spoon have any accessories?
- What will make your selfie spoon represent you best? How would someone know it is you?
- Do you think our selfie spoons should be a whole body, or just the waist up?
- Is this a difficult or easy task? What are you finding difficult/easy?
- Have you made anything like this before?
- My ideas for my own selfie spoon are…. Do you think I could improve it?
- Is there anything you think will be difficult to create?
- Would you like me to help with anything? That is called collaboration. It’s an important part of being creative. You don’t have to do everything by yourself. Asking for help is a super power!
When you’ve completed your selfie spoons
- How do you think that went? Did you enjoy making an alternative self-portrait?
- Is there anything that you’re pleased with?
- Is there anything that you would like to change or improve?
- I like XXXX about your selfie spoon. I think you have worked really hard to make it look like you.
- Do you like my selfie spoon? Do you think there is anything I could change or improve?
Choosing the important person for the reverse side of your selfie spoon
- We’re going to choose someone significant/ important in your life for the other side of your spoon. This can be a person you care about a lot. It can be a member of your family, a foster carer, a friend. The choice is yours. It doesn’t even have to be a person, if you’d like to choose a pet.
- Who have you chosen?
- How will you represent them? What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of them?
- What clothes will you put on them?
- Why have you chosen this person/pet?
- How do they make you feel?
- How often do you see them?
- What would they say if they know you’d chosen them for the reverse of your self portrait?
- Will you be able to show them this?
- What do you think they’ll think?
- Is there a likeness?
General conversation questions
- Do you like making things and creative stuff?
- Do you do art any other time? At school or at home?
- Are there any creative things you would like to do more of?
- If you could have a super power, what would it be? My super power would be….
- If you could go to the supermarket and buy anything, what would you buy?
- If you could only have one colour for your whole outfit, what would it be?
- What is your favourite biscuit? Do you have a special way of eating it?
- What is your least favourite biscuit? Why? (Replace biscuit with ‘fruit’ or ‘food’ or other items, if this may be a trigger point for the child/young person)