An interest in transport and thoughts of global ecology led the children at Greenfields Children's Centre in Southall, London, to make and launch their own air balloon.
The 'Our Earth' Balloon was made during an ambitious ten-week project, working with artists Rosie Potter and Kirstie Reid from Wimbledon College, University of the Arts, London. There was collaboration between the artists and the nursery community, supported by the staff team.
The artists took the threeand four-year-olds' fascination with modes of transport, from rolling and bouncing to floating and flying, as a starting point for the project. They began by exploring how things fly and actually manage to get off the ground. Children experimented with a wind machine and different light objects, such as crumpled tin foil, tissue paper and silk, to see how they moved in the air.
They also discussed how an object could get airborne by wind, solar energy, fire and helium. The children creatively explored a whole range of 'flying machines' with the artists, from a solar airship made of plastic bags to kites and lanterns, and then took them outside to see how it might be possible to make them fly.
These explorations into flight generated rich discussion, problem-solving and teamworking skills. When questioning what could make a solar balloon fly better, one child suggested a pump while another asked, 'Would a trumpet work?
Rosie Potter says, 'The project opened up the opportunity for all sorts of collaboration. The ideas engaged the children aesthetically and scientifically, with everyone across the whole community wishing to participate.'
As children thought about and tested different concepts, they attached pictures, fabric and inspirational media reports on to an interactive pin board. Many of the children were eager to share balloon news and images; a newspaper clipping of a man crossing the Channel in an armchair supported by helium-filled balloons particularly caught their interest.
The children filled their own helium party balloons and took them outside to fly. Some were inspired to attach tags to the balloons and send messages. The idea of the balloons travelling while carrying a message excited them.
BEAUTIFUL BALLOON
The children's enthusiasm for balloon travel led them to use all the knowledge gained from their experimentation to focus on a shared project - the making and flying of one giant balloon. It was decided that the project would culminate in a day out to the coast where the balloon could be launched.
With the launch day set for July, parents were asked to bring in lightweight silk cloth and Greenfields received a fantastic response, with a host of rainbow-coloured saris being generously donated. The children enjoyed playing with the material, lifting it up and letting it billow in the wind, allowing them to sense how light the fabric was.
The children then set to making a silk 'envelope' to encase a large helium balloon. One of the parents, an interior designer, helped the children to draw out and cut the paper patterns which, with the help of parents and staff, formed the individual segments of the balloon. They then cut out the material and weighed it on kitchen scales to ensure that it would achieve optimum 'lift'.
Finally, they sewed the silk sections together on a sewing machine. Throughout the project children continued to question how they should do things, such as whether they should stick, pin, sew or staple the fabric together.
Children noted that for the balloon to fly properly they needed good weather conditions, not much rain or high wind. Staff encouraged them to make daily weather checks on the internet to monitor whether the conditions would be right for their planned launch day. They looked at weather symbols and printed out the different cloud, sun, wind and snow graphics, to pin to the board depending on the day's forecast. Children also made some atmospheric drawings of 'weather' during this phase.
The children's interest in the weather prompted them to raise questions about the environment. It coincided with the Gulf Coast oil spill in the US, and children had seen television images of wildlife struggling in the oil. Discussions were often quite intense and the children felt moved to spell out an environmental message on their balloon. They drew it out in large letters which staff, parents and children cut out before attaching them to the balloon during the last stage of the process. Their message read, 'If people hurt their whole body ... all our earth would go up in the air and all the peoples in the planet they will get sick and all the animals will get sick.'
TAKE OFF
On the day of the launch three coaches full of staff, children and their families left Greenfields Children's Centre and headed to the Brighton coast to meet the artists. There was great excitement in advance of launching the eight foot-high weather balloon and seeing whether it would actually fly. Some of the children and their parents were even more excited because it was the first time they had been to the seaside. News of the project had even been broadcast on a south coast radio station before the celebratory event, and councillors from the Green Party attended.
'Throughout the project there were lots of failures as well as successes, which added to the increasing levels of anticipation when it came to the final lift-off,' says Rosie Potter. 'On the day, everyone understood that there were no absolute certainties, despite all our careful calculations. No-one knew for sure whether it would work, because other helium experiments had previously failed. I think it is important not to present children with a creative challenge if you already have a precise answer or result in mind. Taking risks is essential to the true spirit of experimentation and creativity.'
The weather for the launch was almost ideal - sunny and slightly too windy, but not enough to prevent take-off. The huge yellow balloon was slowly inflated with helium inside its silk sleeve. Emotions were running high, but to everyone's delight the 'Our Earth' balloon was successfully launched over the sea from Hove Lawns into a brilliantly blue sky.
The balloon stayed up in the air for more than three hours as everyone took turns to fly it while enjoying a coastal picnic. One child summed up the project by saying, 'The balloon made me feel much, much better.'
