Tell me and I forget
Teach me and I remember
Involve me and I learn
Benjamin Franklin
Recently we organized an outreach event in Pre-primary school for the children and parents in Gurgaon who seek meaningful age appropriate engagement for their young children between the ages of 2 years - 5 years. This was planned to explore a day at Shikshantar - a place to be me.
The event was organized on two consecutive Saturdays 26th November 22 and 03rd December 2022 .
We welcomed the parents with didi sharing about Shikshantar and the experiences that were planned for them. Thereafter they were guided by didis and bhaiyas to explore the corners created for them . It was no different from any other day at Shikshantar school.The children along with their parents began the day under the Gulmohar tree, listening to their favourite stories through puppets in the cozy story corner. Parents then moved with their children for other activities. We very well know how children just love to jump and hop. To energize their bodies they hopped and jumped in and out of hoopla, crossed over the bars and walked on a row of bricks exploring their path through an interesting maze.
Children’s curiosity saw no bounds as they made their own little discoveries through Rainbow colours, dipping a tissue paper in the tumblers with plain water and coloured water. Pasting crepe paper strips on paper rolls to make streamers and exploring them . The children with their parents enjoyed ‘Look what I see’ using square frames with transparent, red or blue cellophane sheets to observe things in the surroundings.They enjoyed exploring the creative space satisfying their sense of wonder using twigs, leaves, grass,clay and other recycled material drawing their experience in the form of ‘free expression’ and ‘rolling puppets’.
Parents joyfully participated in singing and dancing to live music with children , creating memories for everyone involved. The day culminated with an interaction between parents and the school team. Parents shared their thoughts about the day’s experiences and asked questions about the school’s approaches and philosophy.