Geniekids Holiday Prog. at pune for IBM

Holiday Program IBM Pune Day 4

Geniekids [www.geniekids.com] — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 04:17:00 +0000

Today everybody was exited to begin the practice for the show to be put up for the parents. Immediately after the meditation, we started practicing for the play. The whole group had many suggestions for the play and we incorporated most of the ideas.

While practicing, the kids themselves felt the need of sets and props for the show and we got into making the sets. The kids enthusiastically used the dupattas, crape papers, newspapers, etc available and freaked out on the celotape to make their props. Even the youngest made dens, trees with branches and nests, fruits, pond with fish, and the elder ones made elaborate dancing ground for the peacocks, leaf for the frog and a honey pot with spoons . I too enjoyed the whole process as I had never experienced anything like this before. In the whole process, all of us even forgot to take a snacks break.

Post lunch, we again got into practice again, this time with some confusion though. We had to call for circle time and everybody agreed to be careful with the sets and with everybody else. We also did a round of the dance, this time with the music loud and clear on the speakers.

The kids after the snacks break got into making bags for their cards, puppets, etc. we again did a lsat and final practice and eagerly waited for the parents to come.

The parents came on time and we all enjoyed the “show” a lot. The kids did the dance twice and everybody had a blast.

The camp as they called it, ended with the parents feeling proud of their kids, and the kids feeling good about themselves. The parents also bid us farewell not forgetting to tell us to come again in the summer vacation with yet another programme.
~ Trupti

Holiday Program IBM Pune Day 3

Geniekids [www.geniekids.com] — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:17:00 +0000

Today was a colourful day. We did the water colour mixing activity. A few of the kids had declared that they would not like to do the activity at all. I still kept sheets for them and in no time, they came and joined the group and came up with really colourfull cards for their parents.

We practiced our dance number Chai-Chai Coffee-Coffee which was fully choreographed by now.

Today we introduced the idea of putting up a puppet show for the parents on the last day . We decided that we will do the Plop story for the show and one of the kids told the others the whole story. After this it was decided that we make pictured of the animal they would portray in the story, on a sheet of paper which they will pin up to their dress. This went well with the group and the kids enjoyed making the pictures. They left thinking of what dialogues they would say and how they will walk like the animals.

We did have a few issues today with the kids not coming for circle time, and making noise during meditation. We had to do the medition thrice till everybody was quiet.

Holiday Program IBM Pune Day 2

Geniekids [www.geniekids.com] — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:17:00 +0000

Now that the children knew what to expect from this program, the eagerness showed. The moment they entered the room they wanted this or that …. Specially “chai chai” (what that? – well that’s a surprise for Friday).

Day 2 began with the younger group finding the hidden birds with newspaper binoculars. The whole group was so exited with the search for hidden birds that even the elder group tried to come and join them to be a part of the fun. We then proceeded to make the paper cup bird puppets. It was nice to see even the youngest of the kids trying to trace out the wings and cut them. The kids enjoyed their bird puppets and we had a good time flying around with the bird puppets.

I have always believed that the moment we put the child in the middle of something – involve, get the child to make decisions – in fact literally let the child lead you – you get fantastic developmental opportunities. This happened with the dance. WE played the song, and invited children to come one by one and teach the rest of us one step each. As children collectively choreographed the song, the enthusiasm and energy was unmistakable. It became “my” dance.

The post lunch session began with all of us making puppets out of the leaves and flowers we had collected the previous day and some news paper, cotton, etc. the whole group seriously got involved in this activity. Even the youngest of them all made quite cute puppets with paper cups and cotton. The elder kids came up with detailed ones some of them putting even the pencil sharping to good use.

Making something out of nothing requires ingenuity, perseverance and gumption. Making a tower out of newspaper became an exciting challenge and children groped around for solutions to the problem of how to make the tower stand on its own with nothing to support it. While solutions were not very forthcoming, while “uncle I can’t” seem to reverberate in the hall, the children thinking was systematically stretched in many directions – which was the objective in nay case. Team work also showed through, accompanied by the frustrations when one’s team member does not support your ideas.

But I guess, the most fun children had when they got a hugely stimulating heap of junk and waste material to make their own puppets. One child came up with the idea that my puppet should have a railway station of his own! Diligence at its best was at display, with kids trying out many combinations for their puppets and enjoying the whole process of freely creating puppets without any prior objectives. What I call, creating for the joy of creating!
~ Ratnesh

This afternoon, I tried out what ratnesh had suggested and all of us got into making and playing with paper boats and paper planes. I was surprised to hear from the kids that they had never made paper planes before. The paper planes were a big hit and everyone got really tired after this. I tried out a small GV today with the kids and most of them said they felt better and fresh after that. During the reflection game, most of the kids said they enjoyed the meditation and the puppet making. It was a day full of fun for all of us.

Holiday Prog IBM Pune Day 1

Geniekids [www.geniekids.com] — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:17:00 +0000

We began the session by introducing each other with the butterfly buddies followed by the journey around the place. The whole group liked the idea of each flower having something to say to them. We then separated the groups and the rang birangee gang had a blast with the soap bubble rainbows. Each of us rolled newspaper to make straws and we took turns to make soap bubbles. The kids didn’t want the activity to end . On being told that they can do it at home, almost all of them said that their parents would not allow it! What was amazing was the way the kids cleaned up the whole mess of soap solution after it was over.

The afternoon session began with a game of nonsense answers, and we all had a tough time thinking of non sense answers. We are so much used to giving logical answers all the time, that it was really tough to think of nonsense answers for simple questions like what is the time now?
We then heard the song “chai- chai coffee- coffee” once and the kids by the end of the day were all singing “chai chai coffee coffee”.
For the last hour, the kids were given a paper with just one object drawn on it and they were to complete the whole picture to make it a meaningful picture. I was surprised to see a lot of creative ideas flowing and also the amount of detailed work being done. It was also nice to see the youngest ones struggling hard with the scissors and finally managing to cut.
On the first day, when the groups were merged for the last hour, there were a few unpleasant incidents too. The younger kids were being pushed and pulled and hit by some of the elder ones.
But, overall it was a good experience. All the parents wanted to know how their children were and I gave them the typical Geniekids response, which is “fine”!
~ Trupti