October 2022 Resources

P.E.A.C.E. Projects 2022

The P.E.A.C.E. Projects is an initiative to sponsor and mentor Early Childhood Educators, in promoting Peace Education for young children in the classroom.

Each year we fund several projects. We ask members to submit teacher proposals whose focus is to promote cooperation, empathy, conflict resolutions skills to preschool children.

The following is the final report of one funded proposal.

URI Child Development Center P.E.A.C.E. Project Final Report — Intergenerational Art Project

Prepared by Jessica L. MacLeod, M.S., URI Child Development Center Director

The URI Child Development Center (CDC) is a laboratory preschool program housed within the Department of Human Development and Family Science (HDF), where faculty and staff members’ combined expertise covers the entire lifespan. The desire to facilitate intergenerational connections had been discussed between HDF faculty with expertise in older adult development and the CDC director for quite some time, and then these discussions were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Upon notification of the opportunity to apply for P.E.A.C.E. project funding, the CDC director coordinated with HDF faculty and CDC teachers to develop a proposal for an intergenerational project. Collectively, the individuals engaged in planning decided that the project would focus on providing a series of intergenerational art collaborations, and concluded that, due to pandemic precautions, the connections between the preschool children and older adult project participants would be conducted virtually. Obtaining funding from P.E.A.C.E. allowed the CDC to purchase the art supplies necessary to implement the intergenerational art project.

The intergenerational art project goals are listed below:

• Form meaningful connections between preschool children and older adults through a series of intergenerational art experiences.
• Provide enjoyable creative art opportunities to preschool children and older adults.
• Showcase intergenerational art in a gallery display open to the public.

Initial Zoom Meeting — Introductions and sharing watercolors

Project Procedures/Implementation

1. 1. Watercolors — An open-ended watercolor painting experience was planned for the first intergenerational art experience. CDC funds were used to purchase the watercolor supplies while waiting for the URI Office of Sponsored Projects to process the check received from P.E.A.C.E. and set up the grant account to allow spending. With the watercolor painting experience, an introductory zoom meeting was held between the CDC preschool children and older adult members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). During this zoom meeting, the older and younger project participants had an opportunity to introduce themselves and view the classroom space where each group would be creating art. The preschool children each had a chance to show the older adults one of their completed watercolor paintings, and the older adults provided enthusiastic encouraging feedback as they viewed the preschoolers’ artwork. (Alignment with curriculum goals: explore art materials, experiment with color mixing, fine motor development, gain understanding of community, interact with diverse groups)
   2. Marble Rolling Paintings — Children demonstrated the marble rolling painting technique on zoom while OLLI members observed virtually in real time. Then, OLLI members created their own marble rolling paintings, both individually and one large collaborative marble rolling painting. (Alignment with curriculum goals: work collaboratively, negotiate shared space and materials, fine motor development, problem solving.)

1. 1. Weaving — Ongoing intergenerational weaving opportunities were offered by passing looms back and forth between the CDC, the OLLI lobby, and the college classroom where the CDC director taught an early childhood development course. The ongoing weaving efforts helped solidify children’s understanding about adults engaging in artwork collaboratively with the preschool even though they were not meeting in person. URI undergraduate students and older adults alike spontaneously noted how relaxing and meditative the act of weaving felt. (Alignment with curriculum goals: fine motor development, understanding of patterning, participation in and appreciation of fiber arts, explore elements of texture and color)

1. 1. Photography — Preschool children, practicum students, and CDC staff plus all OLLI members were invited to participate in a Special Place Photography project. Families were engaged in the project by facilitating discussions with their preschoolers about special places, allowing their child to take a photo, and submitting the photo and their child’s dictation through a google form. Prints of the photos along with quotes from the photographers were arranged into photo albums for children to view. A discussion group was held at OLLI where the older adult photographers had an opportunity to view a slideshow of all special place photography submissions, engage in conversation, share memories, and reflect. (Alignment with curriculum goals: sense of place, awareness of community, expressive language, use of technology, view and respond to art)

1. 1. Shutterfly Share Site — A password-protected Shutterfly Share Site was created to facilitate viewing of artwork and to enable virtual correspondence between all project participants. The share site contains several albums including: Meet the Preschool Artists, Meet the OLLI Artists, an album for each art experience containing photos of the artistic process as well as final products, and one of the art shows.
   2. Intergenerational Art Show — The culminating event for this project was an intergenerational art show open to the public held at the Kingston Free Library throughout the month of May 2022. Full-color postcards advertising the art show were printed and these invitations were sent to families, faculty and staff, URI students, OLLI members, the URI President, and the “friends of the CDC” email list. Teachers from each classroom planned a walk to the art show to ensure that all children could visit the gallery exhibit and families were invited to join the walking field trip as well.

Participants

Project participants included the following groups:

• URI Child Development Centers — preschool children (ages 3–5) and staff (ages 18–64)
  • 30 preschool children enrolled in the URI CDC
  • 32 preschool children enrolled in the Dr. Pat Feinstein CDC
• URI Osher Lifelong Learning Institute members — 25 older adults (age 50+)
• City of Providence Senior Services — 7 older adults (age 50+)
• URI undergraduate students — 20 young adults (ages 18-22)

Results/Discussion

In reflecting on project goals as the intergenerational art project comes to an end, the first goal was partially met and the second and third goals were completely met. The preschool children did have a few meaningful exchanges with the older adults however, to truly form meaningful connections, it would be best to have in-person opportunities for the children and older adults to create art alongside one another.

The project was successful in providing enjoyable creative art opportunities for preschool children and older adults. Project participants of all ages shared spontaneous feedback indicating that the art experiences were enjoyed. Simply providing the art materials to the sites managed by Providence Senior Services increased access to creative art opportunities for older adults in low-SES (socio-economic status) communities where supplies for participation in the creative arts are not readily available. OLLI members were also enthused to be able to bring home their set of watercolors, with one participant noting that she would facilitate watercolor painting with her grandchildren and another sharing plans to bring watercolor painting to her mother in an assisted living facility. By engaging undergraduate students in the project implementation, this project helped prepare future educators to implement similar intergenerational collaborative community projects when they enter the field.

The project was successful in showcasing a sample of the intergenerational art in a gallery display open to the public. The art show was well-attended, and visitors left positive feedback in the guest book. Through this project the CDCs established successful collaborative partnerships with local sites that serve older adults. These relationships are expected to be sustained over time.

Next Steps

While all art experiences planned for this project have been successfully implemented, there are also a few next steps. The Dr. Pat Feinstein Child Development Center is continuing to implement art experiences with their partner sites and will curate an intergenerational art show to be held in the city in August. A local presentation about the intergenerational art project geared towards early childhood educators is forthcoming. It is also the hope that there will be an opportunity to share information about the project through a national presentation in the year ahead.

Additionally, an article about the project will be drafted over the summer and submitted for publication. Building on this first round of the intergenerational art project, grant funding has been secured from the International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS) to offer a series of intergenerational art experiences throughout the 2022–2023 school year. The possibility of in-person art collaborations will be considered for the year ahead as will the possibility of adding a research component to the project.