After the Easter holidays, work began on the project at the Einrichtung Strohhalm. Firstly, all of the pupils were given a special folder for which they were asked to design and create a cover. Together they thought about how the subject of road safety could be made interesting for all children and youngsters. Various ideas were collected in a brainstorming session. They then voted for an art project as the main part of the project work.
Before they could begin with the art, the class focused on the subject of road safety, using the MobileKids educational materials. They looked at questions such as: What do pedestrians have to look out for? What are the dos and don'ts as a cyclist? What are the important things to remember when you're on inline skates or a scooter? What is a blind spot? What does a roadworthy bike have to have? What are the dos and don'ts of cycling?
They also took an in-depth look at traffic signs. These were drawn and hung up in the classroom, and the pupils inspected and counted the ones in the street outside the Einrichtung Strohhalm. The road safety education was cross-curricular, e.g. in English lessons the pupils learned traffic-related English words. They also looked at Bremerhaven's traffic statistics and used them to discuss the risk of accidents in Bremerhaven.
Once they had learned the basics, the art project could begin. The aim was to turn non-roadworthy bikes into works of art. First they had to say why the provided bicycles were no longer roadworthy, and all of the key parts were correctly named.
Once the bicycles had been dismantled piece by piece, they were reassembled as creative new objects. The groups then presented their works of art during their German lesson with a summarised description. The pupils loved working with wire, adhesive tape, spray paint, wool, etc. and all of them joined in enthusiastically.
The artworks they created, "Flieda", "Tadeos", "Flix", "Bob Marley", "Gisela", "Springbob", a nameless sheet and a mobile they created together out of spare parts, will be on display for parents and visitors to see. One of the artworks has been adopted as a permanent classroom mascot!