KALINKA kindergarten is a typical state-run Russian kindergarten located on the Black Sea coast. I was excited to lead a master class there, as I didn't know what to expect from the kids. My idea was to bring lots of recycled materials: used boxes and empty bottles, accompanied by colorful cardboard, paper, masking tape, markers, and glue. I wanted to give the kids 100% freedom but wasn't sure how ready they would be for experimentation. Usually, in Russian kindergartens, art classes are not that inventive and are normally limited to making identical drawings or applications of flowers, animals, sun+sky+grass+tree scenes, etc.



My only suggestion to the kids was to think about building a city, just to give them some direction. Then something unexpected happened. Once the kids saw the big bags of materials, they immediately started tearing them apart, choosing exactly what they needed, bursting with ideas, and working energetically for 2.5 hours. As a result, some fantastic works were created, each with a story behind it. I was surprised, amazed, happy, and very proud of these kids who showed so much openness, enthusiasm, courage, and independent thinking.

This is the very beginning of an art class. Kids were excited about such a huge amount of building materials but still fought a bit over the rare items.

In the end, all works were on the table, and we could finally see our city