Through VSA Michigan and Matrix Theatre Company, Hands-On Folktales was given the opportunity to team up with four Oakland County elementary school classrooms.

This semester we will:

• Write a play and perform for a festival
• Create an Interactive Story to perform at a showcase
• Learn about acting, theatre, and how to perform in front of an audience.

Hands-On Folktales has created process oriented inclusive arts education programs for these students (grades K-5).  We will be attending the VSA Celebrate Abilities Festival in early May.  Be sure to come back and read about our big performance!

We debuted our work at the Senate Theatre in Southwest Detroit on March 21, 2015.  It was such a success!  Hands-On would like to give a big THANK YOU to Matrix Theatre company for inviting us to lead the Celebrate Your Story course for young writers. We had so much fun creating this story.  Check out the video below to view the entire “Book of Detroit!”, narrated by our young authors.

Spring is in the air and Hands-On Folktales is busy as a bee! Southwest Detroit’s Matrix Theatre Company asked Hands-On Folktales to lead their students in a Picture Storybook course.
Celebrate Your Story is a class for 5-7 year old artists and storytellers. Our students decided to spotlight different aspects of their experiences in Detroit. They learned about the parts of a story, heroes and villains. Each student created a short story and translated some of the ideas into visual art. They were asked to consider texture and color using different techniques: collage, watercolor etc.
The result is an anthology of action, fantasy, memories and daydreams.
Stay tuned for more information on their “Book of Detroit”.

created by the 2015 Celebrate Your Story class