You’ve heard of robots and you’ve heard of joy, but have you ever heard of Botjoy? Our MICDS third graders have!
Combining the concepts of art and community, Botjoy is an art movement created by Portland, Oregon artist Gary Hirsh, where people draw small robots on the back side of dominoes to gift to others. They are tokens of kindness that help spread joy, courage, and inspiration. According to the Botjoy website, “When you make someone a Bot, you give them a little emotional boost of joy, bravery, hope, etc. Whatever your intention, a Bot helps you express it. It is amazing how a small robot can help you feel more human.”
Thanks to Third Grade Homeroom Teacher Jessica Lloyd for sharing about this movement with Lower School Art Teacher Sarah Garner, our third graders have been busy drawing and coloring tiny, inspiring bots this month in art class. Each bot connects to an emotion or feeling—there’s “Brave Bot,” “Joy Bot,” “Gratitude Bot,” “Love Bot,” “Pause Bot,” “Hope Bot,” “Listening Bot,” “Caffeine Bot,” “Inspiration Bot,” and the list goes on. The Botjoy website encourages, “You can make any type of Bot that your imagination can conjure!” Students are chiseling into their creativity and empathy skills through this project.
Once given, the recipient can take the bot wherever they go and imagine it encouraging them. For example, a “Joy Bot” can be envisioned to shower them with outrageous compliments throughout the day. A “Brave Bot” can be given to an astronaut to give them courage as they face something daunting. Thinking about what would boost another allows our Beasley students to practice putting themselves in someone else’s shoes while thinking about what would help another.
“After designing their own unique bots, the third graders are turning them into stickers for the dominoes and bookmarks to share within the community,” explains Ms. Garner. “We will also be using these inspirational bots to help us think about the impact we make during Turkey Train.”
How special to create, give, and receive a tiny encouraging bot with just the support one needs, cleverly leaning into our Mission to embrace all people with compassion. Thank you to our third graders and Ms. Garner for helping spread kindness this way, one domino at a time!