Workshops

Zoomed in from China, WildChina Education‘s Beijing expert Fred 何力研 and office chef Zhang Ayi collaborated with Kids Cooking for Life to teach young chefs in the US to make dumplings in honor of Chinese New Year. 

Students not only learned the basics of Chinese cooking skills, but also dove into the soul of Chinese cuisine. Wrapping and eating dumplings together is a Chinese family tradition designed to bring happiness and prosperity into the New Year since dumplings look like ingots (元宝), the currency used in ancient times. We enjoyed making dumplings with Kids Cooking for Life as we feel like all of our partners are extended family!

Special thanks to the students and families from Franklin Elementary School, MarinArts, Aspire Berkley Maynard Academy, Bridge the Gap College Prep, and the Manzanita Elementary School District for tuning in and learning about Chinese New Year traditions and culture with us.

Christmas Trees are an iconic holiday decoration, but at the end of every year, most of them are discarded and never used again. Last Christmas at the Yuz Museum, over 70 students joined us and architect Shuyan Chan to harness the power of design thinking and sustainability to “plant” Sustainable Christmas Trees made from recycled milk cartons.

Students were able to see the intersection between art and sustainability first-hand, and we hope that next year they will help to reduce waste and create their own Christmas Tree!

Special thanks to Tetra Pak for supplying so many recycled materials and our other partners at TerraCycle, Seeds of Change, Friends of Nature, Own What You Eat, Time Out Shanghai, That’s Shanghai, New York University Shanghai and our biggest group of students from Shanghai United International School!

Last December, we participated in the Yuz Museum HYUNDAI Art + Tech Family Day!

Our WildChina Education experts, Cao Haotian and Zhang Xiaomeng, facilitated two workshops: “Nature and Me: Conductive Ink” and “Interactive Sound Machine: Vision.” Both workshops were perfect opportunities for students to learn about the intersection of art and technology through fun, hands-on activities!

Using conductive ink, they understood the impact of human activities on the environment and brainstormed possibilities for sustainable development. Using Arduino boards and basic circuits, students learned how to use sound to control light and were able to take home their final product.

Thanks to Hyundai Motor Company for supporting this event!