One cold, crisp January morning our three, four, five and six-year-olds absorbed a part of the magical world of art by a famous Catalan artist, Joan Miró. And there, to our great surprise, we learned that anything and everything could be turned into art, or as one of the first graders put it: He makes something from nothing and gives it a name! Back at school we knew what we needed to do - collect bottle caps, paper rolls, old DVDs, markers, buttons, beads, jewelry, cardboard boxes, chairs, spoons, yarn…with no idea where our students’ imaginations and busy little hands would take them.

They worked daily, mornings and afternoons on their ideas that kept switching from robots to cooking pots, from balls to treasure chests, from hotels to homes until they were each happy with their piece or pieces of art. The teachers merely supervised, facilitated and cleaned up the creative mess! The joy of watching these little artists get immersed in their visions is indescribable!

On February 12, 2015 the artists proudly and personally presented their art pieces to their family and friends. The buzz in our improvised AISZ museum lasted for hours and can still be heard and seen in the hallways and on the school walls. The “Make Something from Nothing and Give It a Name” exhibition started slightly opening the door to the vast fields of children’s endless capacities and open-mindedness if we, as teachers, keep our minds open and listen to what they have to say through words, drawings, paintings, sculptures, books, stories, bodies. We owe them that much!

Nela Puđa
Junior Kindergarten Teacher
AIS Zagreb, Croatia