Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 26, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A 11LIFE I HOLIDAY CHEER A BARBIE Dreamhouse Dollhouse was nowhere to be found on the holiday wish list of Isla Monro or Grace Rhodes this year. Instead of waiting on Santa Claus, the best friends, aged 10 and 11, took con- struction matters into their own hands at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then the duo - who was in search of something to fill their time when the province closed schools in- definitely - decided to collaborate on a miniature mansion made from used materials and household items. Two-hundred used hot glue sticks, hours of online toy-building tutorials and nine months later, the girls put the finishing touches on their three-storey playhouse last week. "It was really cool to just stand back and see the whole Barbie house finished altogether, and not in pieces - because it kind of worked like a puzzle," said Isla, a Grade 6 student at H.S. Paul School. Grace echoed those comments in a recent interview over FaceTime, dur- ing which the girls gave a reporter a tour of their quarantine project from their working headquarters in Monro's basement in south St. Vital. (Since the girls are both only-chil- dren, their families have bubbled up throughout the pandemic so the friends can socialize with each other.) While the friends spent less time working on the project over the sum- mer, when they were outside - often in the pool - they have spent countless hours working away at the playhouse since March. The evidence is in the intricate de- tails: a detergent shelf built into a card- board washing machine that slides open; an outdoor umbrella made of blue tissue paper and twine to accompany their patio furniture; framed pictures made from magazine clippings and tiny twigs; "stainless steel" appliances built with tinfoil; and a chandelier made from a clear plastic cup and tiny beads, among other handmade furnishings. Grace's favourite spaces are the kitchen and parents' room; the latter is equipped with wallpaper, a walk-in clos- et, and a toy dog made of pet fur. The rooftop backyard is one of Isla's favourite features because of how real- istic it is. The top layer has a campfire pit surrounded by green sponge trees, as well as a gazebo - inside of which there are hanging rattan chairs made from twine and disposable water bottles. Their building materials include cardboard, cups, straws, Popsicle sticks, tinfoil, paint, old socks, elastics, toilet paper rolls, beads and buttons. The structure itself was built using two cardboard boxes. "You can pretty much make any- thing out of cardboard. If we didn't have cardboard, I don't think it would really look as nice as it does right now," said Grace, a fifth-grader at Samuel Burland School. Throughout the building process, the girls asked their parents not to peek so they could surprise them at the grand unveiling ceremony. When that day finally came ear- lier this month, Grace's mother, Lisa Rhodes, said she was overwhelmed. "The idea-sharing, the hours spent on all these meticulous details, they've really shown their creativity and team- work," she said. The mother added all the parents are thrilled the project has been a distrac- tion from screen time. From the tiny appliances to the patio barbecue, which has a grill made from toothpicks the girls painted black, the final product was "above and beyond" what Isla's father said he expected they would make. "It almost looks like something off of HGTV," said Bruce Monro. The girls both said they felt sad af- ter realizing their project is done, but they already have a blueprint for their next collaboration. They have become interior design- ers, architects and engineers in recent months. Now, they want to work to- wards their shared goal of becoming veterinarians, by building a miniature pet clinic and kennel. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie A most marvellous mansion MAGGIE MACINTOSH Friends design, build Barbie dollhouse using recycled goods and household items MICHELLINE LAMONTAGNE and her students were finishing up the fall term with a read-aloud of a festive fa- vourite, Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, when the nursery school secretary con- tacted them with an urgent announce- ment. "You need to come down to the of- fice right now," Lamontagne recalls the voice on the other end of the speaker saying. "I just got a delivery; it's from the North Pole." Lamontagne then gathered her wide- eyed three- and four-year-old students and they took what's become a rare vis- it to the office, given COVID-19 precau- tions have kept the children isolated to their designated classroom. There, in a bright red sack, were 50 letters signed by Santa Claus - each one written by a high school helper, on behalf of the busiest man during the holiday season. Trading letters before the holiday break has become an annual tradition between River East French Exposure Nursery School and Coll�ge B�liveau. Every December, Lamontagne helps each of her students complete a fill-in- the-blank letter to Santa, with details the class thinks he would want to know about them, as well as photos of items on their wish list. They always add a question for Santa, Lamontagne said, and this year's was about his favourite treats. Since he often gets milk and cookies, the class was curious if he might prefer a differ- ent snack on Christmas Eve. (The responses they received indi- cate Santa is a traditionalist, their teacher said.) The letters are then delivered to Jen- nifer Oldfield's Grade 12 English class at Coll�ge B�liveau, where seniors spend a period crafting careful replies with original artwork and calligraphy. "There's nothing like an authentic audience," said Oldfield, who was con- nected with the nursery school when a colleague mentioned their child's pre- school teacher was looking for letter- writers several years ago. "The Grade 12s put so much pressure on themselves to get these letters just right - in terms of tone, in terms of what their writing looked like, in terms of the voice they were using, and the vo- cabulary." During a brainstorm session, the stu- dents revisited the proper use of a semi- colon, agreed they shouldn't promise anything on Santa's behalf, and con- sumed hot chocolate and candy canes. Citing the many smiles under masks in her class on that December day, Old- field said the project provided an op- portunity for students to learn in a cele- bratory way and find normalcy in an unusual school year; her mantra amid the pandemic has been "pockets of joy." "Writing those letters was an amaz- ing way to keep the holiday spirit de- spite the chaos going on in the world," Grade 12 student Sabrina Brown said in a text this week. The project not only brought the chil- dren joy, but also allowed Brown, 17, to practise her lettering skills, spend casual time with classmates, and take a break from essay writing. The envelope Brown sent back to a pre-schooler had a missing chunk out of it - a sign hungry Rudolph must've gotten into the mail, she told the recipi- ent in her letter. Success in previous years prompted Oldfield to expand the project this year, also enlisting her Grade 11 students to partake in a Santa collaboration with Oak Bluff Community School. Many of the letter writers signed off their notes with festive reminders about mask-wearing. As far as Lamontagne's concerned, the more older and younger students can connect, the better. "It is lovely to have the connection - even though my students don't know about the connection," said the nursery school teacher. "It always just creates a little bit more empathy." maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Santa's little (high school) helpers write letters to kids MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Olivia was doubtless delighted to receive a surprise letter from Santa. PHOTOS BY MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Grace Rhodes (left) and Isla Monro in front of their Barbie house. The friends collaborated on the miniature mansion, made entirely of recycled materials. The bedrooms (left) are quite swank. Grace and Isla show the detailed laundry room. A_11_Dec-26-20_FP_01.indd A11 2020-12-25 9:49 PM ;