Making Mobiles at BEE Montessori Preschool

One of the projects we enjoyed doing with the pre-school children was to make hanging mobiles from items collected from the Bagamoyo seashore. There is a newly constructed roof to protect the space between the school entrance, offices and classroom, washroom and kitchen area where Ashley thought could use some decorating.

At one of the school’s Friday “Sports Day” during our 3-week visit when the children wear their white sports uniforms, we bussed them, along with several of our Students Empowering Students’ members, to the beach to collect various shells, coral, coconut shells and driftwood into plastic bags.

The children enjoyed taking a big bus to the beach and searching for shells and other treasures washed up from the sea that would then be used to beautify a space at the BEE school. They ran to the beach to scour the beach at low tide in search of shells and other treasures. After the shell collection, we all enjoyed fresh mango juice on the lawn of Travelers Lodge where Ashley and the rest of us had wonderful accommodations during this incredible culture emersion volunteer experience.

After the beach stroll, the collected treasures were washed and dried in the sun outside the school, we took turns helping them to sort, tie and hang 10-12 items per section of twine and dangled them attractively from the roof rafters. They enjoyed picking out shells and coral with natural holes which could be tied in a row onto a piece of natural twine and then onto a horizontal piece of drift wood or bone which had washed up on the beach by the passing tides.

The 10-12 natural seascape mobiles look beautiful hanging in the foyer of the BEE school. Not only do they provide beautification to the entrance of the property, they can be used by teachers, Glory and Albina, for learning opportunities such as counting and sorting by type of sea treasure. I am hopeful that these art pieces will be enjoyed by many students, teachers, parents and other BEE Montessori Pre-School visitors for many years to come.