Staying Creative During the Lockdown | 闭校期间保持学生的创造力|

Creativity is nurtured in many ways at YCIS Beijing as we continuously embrace and encourage our students to participate in and explore ways of expressing themselves through the arts. An example of this is regular visits from artists through our Fellow-in-Residence Programme. The Covid-19 outbreak has, however, limited access to art classes in the regular sense, but there have still been other ways in which creativity has continued to be facilitated, even during this time.

在北京耀中，我们通过多种方式培养学生的创造力。我们不断鼓励学生参与并探索通过艺术表达自我的方式。艺术家通过我们的专家驻校课程定期访问我校就是一个很好的实例。然而，新冠肺炎的爆发限制了定期的艺术课程，但即使在这段时间里我们仍然有其他的方式继续启发学生们的创造力。

The lockdown has “forced a major change in our students’ lives, which has proven to be a challenge for some” according to Allison Cusato, YCIS Beijing Secondary school Art teacher.  Despite these challenges, parents have stepped in and played an important role in ensuring the school continues for their children in some of the most creative ways. “When parents promote creativity, they are encouraging an outlet that students can use to work through these changes in a healthy way.”  added Miss Cusato. 

北京耀中中学美术教师Allison Cusato表示，学校闭校“迫使我们学生的生活发生了重大变化，事实证明，这对一些人来说是个挑战”。尽管面临这些挑战，但家长们还是挺身而出，发挥了重要作用，以最具创造性的方式确保孩子继续上学。“当家长们启发创造力时，他们是在鼓励学生们以一种健康的方式来应对这些变化。”Cusato女士补充道。

When asked why it is important for creativity to be promoted during what has been over two months of the Covid-19 lockdown, she says “Visual Arts provides opportunities for artmaking methods that promote a meditative state as well as visual journaling that enables processing changes to their state of being.”

当被问及为什么启发创造力在超过两个月的新冠肺炎闭校期间如此重要,她说“视觉艺术为艺术创作方法提供了机会,不但能够发人深思，插图日志还能够改变他们的现状。”

Miss Cusato kicked off her online interactive classes with her Lower Secondary students by focusing on zentangles.  “They [zentangles] allow for a review of elements of art and principles of design with the incorporation of meditation.” she stated. “The lesson encouraged students to make their zentangles with Wuhan and Hubei in mind, including messages of encouragement, patience and peace.”

Cusato女士通过专注于禅绕画，开始了她与初中部学生的在线互动课程。“禅绕画使人们得以通过深思来回顾艺术元素和设计原则。”她说。“课程鼓励学生们从武汉和湖北的角度出发，做出每个人心中的禅绕画，其中包含了鼓励、耐心和和平的信息。”

For senior students, she opted to “have them create mind maps and works of art based on their new living and learning situations. Not only does this allow them to see how experiences like this can be used to inspire art, it also allows them to make connections between art and other subjects like science and math.”  she elaborated.

对于高中部学生，她选择“让他们根据新的生活和学习情况，创作思维导图和艺术作品。这不仅让他们看到这样的经历可以用来启发艺术，也让他们在艺术和其他学科之间建立联系，如科学和数学。”她详细阐述道。

For students who did not have access to resources for the abovementioned methods of creating art, she encouraged them to use resources at their disposal such as coffee and cardboard to create their masterpieces.

对于那些无法获得上述艺术创作方法资源的学生，她鼓励他们利用手中的资源，如咖啡和成堆的衣服来创作自己的作品。

While eLearning continues, this is how parents can encourage creativity;

在在线教学继续进行的同时，以下是家长们鼓励孩子发挥创造力的方式：

•Providing their children with the tools to create. A sketchbook and pencil are a great place to start.

为孩子提供创造的工具。一个写生本和一支铅笔是最好的开始。

•Ask your children what their favourite art-making media are, then set up a maker space together, which your child can utilize when creating.

问问您的孩子他们最喜欢的艺术创作媒体是什么，然后一起建立一个创客空间，您的孩子可以利用它进行创作。

•Children who are not drawn to the visual arts may enjoy writing about how their environment is changing or interpreting it through movement. They may also enjoy meditation or music to work times of challenge. 

对视觉艺术不感兴趣的孩子可能喜欢将他们的环境是如何变化的写下来，或者通过行动来解释它。他们也可能喜欢冥想或音乐来应对挑战。

If you are interested in doing some creative activities with your child, below are some resources and tips;

如果您有兴趣和您的孩子做一些创造性的活动，以下是一些资源和提示：

• Zentangles combine drawing and meditation. Creating a Zentangle is the perfect way to destress.

禅绕画结合了绘画和冥想。创造一个禅绕画是缓解压力的完美方式。

• Colouring books or pages offer a benefit similar to the Zentangle. An online resource for colouring pages is located here https://www.stopbreathethink.com

填色书或页面有着和禅绕画类似的好处。下面是一个填色页面的在线资源: https://www.stopbreathethink.com/

• Paint by Numbers kits are also fun for this and when complete you have a painting to add to your home. These can be found on Taobao

用数字作画也很有趣，完成后你可以把画挂在家里。你可以在淘宝上找到数字画。

• Children can write about what they are experiencing while illustrating and working through traumatic experiences. A great place to find information and examples of visual journaling is http://www.thevisualjournal.com/ 

孩子们可以将他们正在经历什么和心理创伤的经验写下来。http://www.thevisualjournal.com/是一个非常好的网站，可以找到插图日志的信息和示例。

Good luck with exploring your creativity!

祝你好运，发掘你的创造力!