Fifth grade artists discussed the artwork of Cyrus Kabiru. We examined his use of upcycled materials and found objects in his “C-Stunners”. Who is Cyrus Kabiru? Kabiru is a creative artist from Kenya who turns trash into treasure! He is famous for making colorful, imaginative glasses called C-Stunners out of recycled materials like bottle caps, wires, spoons, and scrap metal.
As a child, Cyrus loved taking things apart and building new inventions. Instead of throwing old objects away, he saw them as art supplies. His wearable sculptures show that creativity can turn everyday junk into something amazing.
Today, his artwork is shown in galleries around the world. Cyrus teaches us that:
You can create art from anything
Recycling helps the planet
Being different makes you special
He believes everyone has the power to see the world in their own unique way!
To begin the challenge, students paired up and become both a designer and client. Their assignments was to make personality classes for their partner “client” using Design Thinking. Design thinking is a creative problem-solving process that helps people come up with thoughtful, innovative solutions by focusing on the needs of others.
It’s about understanding people first, then creating ideas, testing them, and improving them.
The 5 Main Steps of Design Thinking
Empathize – Learn about the people you are designing for.
What do they need? How do they feel?
Define – Clearly state the problem.
What exactly needs to be improved or solved?
Ideate – Brainstorm lots of creative ideas.
No idea is too wild at this stage!
Prototype – Create a model or sample of your idea.
Build a sketch, model, or rough draft.
Test – Try it out and get feedback.
What works? What could be better?
Each member of the pair interviewed the other and customized personality glasses designed for their client. They were able to receive feedback from one another along the way. The end products were stunning!
