Tata Sherwood- Final session

Tata Sherwood- concluding session

 

SESSION 10

 

Today was the concluding session of the programme and parents too were invited to join us in the later half of   the session.  The kids were looking forward to the parents coming in and were very exited to make a welcome board for them. They got together to paint one on the paper stuck on the wall and took good care that they did not spoil the wall in the room. They were also talking about what we could do in the next session and when I said that we wont have any more sessions, they were very disappointed. They kept asking when the next programme would begin.

After decorating the welcome board, we took a break and then decided to clean up the room. But, we did not have brooms and we also did not want to clean up with our hands. So, I took out some newspaper sheets and we cleaned up the place . when I rolled one sheet to make a broom for myself , they were very surprised that even a newspaper could become a broom and they too went ahead to make one for themselves.

When the parents came in, we greeted them and explained to them how we do meditation, why we do it, which kind of music is played for it, and so on. Then, I told the whole group to make two groups for playing a game. The parents preferred to be in one group and the kids in the other. Then, they made tallest towers using wooden blocks. It was fun. Even a two year old kid, brother of one of the kids, too made quite tall towers for himself. It was nice to see parents participate with full enthusiasm.

Then, we went ahead with the activity "bade miyan- chote miyan" where the thinking skill was composition and they had to make puppets which would be big and small and also come up with a story and present it.

Parents too got involved in the activity and finally the kids put up a small puppet show. During reflection, parents said that the kids did a good job and they enjoyed it even if it was not a perfect product. Some parents also mentioned that they were wanting to have a perfect looking puppet with a perfect story but they were quite happy with whatever stories the kids came up with . some parents even participated in the story telling in one group. Parents even said that the next workshop could be planned for parents and kids together. One parent said that she would continue this kind of activities   with her kids where simple material could be put to creative use. One parent said she felt like asking me all the time how much time they had for the puppet making and was surprised I never mentioned anything about it. They even said this was a better way of doing something with the kids rather than telling them to hurry up while doing something creative. Some parents said that their kids don't open up in front of so many people in any other setting but they were surprised to see the same kids expressing themselves here.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable session . I have learned a lot from the kids during the ten sessions of smart genie and enjoyed every moment of it.

Trupti

FErn city all fotos

Smart genie-Fern city- fotos

Smart genie- Tata Sherwood

Smar genie- Tata Sherwood- session9

SESSION 9

When the kids came in today, I was looking at some pictures in a magazine. They started asking me what I was looking at and that is how the whole thing about asking questions began. It was fun. Each one of us asked others questions about the pictures. We also told others what we saw in   the pictures. I was amazed at the observation of the kids especially the youngest ones. By now all the kids in my class , even the youngest ones are able to pin up their own badges to their clothes and today one of the younger kids wanted to help his elder brother wear his badge and even went ahead and told him, " you are big, you can do it".

Today we played a game where I pinned a picture to the back  of the kids one by one and they had to guess what was there in the picture by asking questions to the others who could reply only in yes or no. even this went off well. Some kids needed some help in asking questions but one of the kids did a splendid job of framing questions on her own.   After this game one kid wanted to have a frog jump race and we explored jumping like a frog, hopping like a kangaroo, walking like a giant like a teacher, policeman, and even slithering like a snake which was suggested by one of the normally quieter kids. When I said it was time for a break, they all said " so soon?" as usual. Today we even explored non verbal communication and using signs to communicate our ideas.

After the break, we again observed a few pictures and told what we saw in it. Then, we also explored how we could put a relevant sign in the picture to convey our thoughts or concerns about the situation. For eg, they came up with ideas like putting up a sign saying do not jump next to a pool, a do not touch sing to put next to a hot iron, use me sign in a room next to the litter bin to help keep the room clean and so on. When I asked if they would like to make a sign to hang in their own rooms, they were exited about it, and made very cute ones. They were very proud of   their work and also showed a lot of patience when I taped their signs on a chart paper one by one.

Since we had some time left, we also made cute little happy people puppets  which also was something they got very exited about. Now we are all looking forward to the next session where their parents are going to join us for some time.

Trupti

 
 

Smart Genie-Fern City-priyanka

 
Session-9 

Theme:  Day and Night

We started with an Energizer "Fire in the jungle Run! Run! Run!" – With lots of improvisations that kids seemed to enjoy a lot.  Initially we started with the regular groupings of twos and threes.  Then for more complex and funny combinations – like combining colors and shapes, or combining 6 hands, 2 chins and 3 elbows!  This got interesting – as sometimes we ran short of 1 elbow!  Kids wanted more and more of it, and I had to finally 'statue' them, and we played finding the most ticklish part of these statues!

We did meditation, and kids themselves came forward to share their thoughts – which were very interesting. 

It was time for Stimulation for the day's activity: I had prepared a dark room for them.  We all went in – and there was a big "Wow!" from all the kids. I had arranged a display of night-sky with the help of one emergency light and a black sheet with perforations. The children identified some 'constellations' – of snake, eagle, rat, lion, scorpion, etc - in it – while those were not some things I had even intended!

Then we came outside our 'planetarium' and shared our thoughts – on what we see in the sky during day and night? I took one sheet which I had stuck some pictures of activities which I do as my day starts.  We talked of the beauty of Sunrise – and every child shared his/her experiences about it.  It was very touching.  Thereafter, I showed my day's activity which I called later "Rhythm".  We discussed and distinguished the objects and activities of day and night.  Day-objects being Sun, Rainbow, etc – while Night objects being Moon, Star, shooting stars, etc.  Day activities as Playing, Reading, Dancing, etc – and Night activities as sleeping, listening to stories, etc.

It was their turn to map their rhythms of the day.  I had provided them with lots of pictures, which they selected, colored, and pasted on their sheets in sequence. 

We took a small break here.  We were already running late - so we rushed, washed our hands, and with no further ado - opened our snack boxes and started eating.

After the break, we played another Energizer.  I had kept few things on the table, and they took turns to take a ring and target those things with it.  Kids liked doing it a lot.

They continued with the activity – and finished the Night part, which took lesser time.

Lastly, we did some planning together for what we should do for the last session next week – when the parents are also invited!  Children were prolific with ideas and we came to some good conclusions.  It was time to go home, as we finished decorating the invitation cards for parents.

Smart genie-Tata Sherwood-Session 8

 
 

SESSION 8

My group seems to love playing treasure hunt. So, I hid the pencil basket today before the kids came in. when everybody gathered, I asked them to take a pencil and sit. They tried to find the pencils but could not and soon realized that I must have hidden them. Then after looking behind, below, over, under different things, they finally found the pencils.

I then asked them the process they followed to locate the pencils , what they did if they did not find it in a place they were looking in, and so on and they came up with various responses like they will look in some other place and so on. Then, we did a few mazes which was enjoyed a lot. After doing the mazes I had brought, I told them to design mazes themselves and some of the kids came up with good ones where humpty dumpty had to find the correct way to the wall, or where one kid drew her own picture in one corner and her friend in the other and the path leading her to the friend . they then got into colouring the pictures. When I said it was break time, everyone was surprised that the break came so soon.

After the break, we did a round of appreciation where each one said why he or she liked self. Then we made beautiful badges with their responses written on it for e.g. I am brave…. And I  try everything…….somebody wrote I love reading a lot, and so on. One of the kids wanted to write angry so and so … but then changed her mind and wrote I am happy …..

They wore the badges with great pride for the rest of the day and even said they would make similar ones for themselves and their friends in the future too.

Then, I  asked them to remember what we had done in one of the earlier sessions and to my sheer surprise, they remembered everything from the session. Then, I carried forward the idea of making an invitation card as we had done before and told them that we would be making it for their parents. They were quite exited with the idea and were even more exited when I said we will be using spray paint to make the card. Then we had a fun time doing spray painting on cards after which we played games till the cards dried up. When it was time to go home, I had to tell them to take their bags and go home which they did with great reluctance. They wanted to continue playing, but the said bye and left showing off their badges to their parents.

Trupti

SG- fern city

Smart Genie-fern city-priyanka---session -8

 
Today's theme was perseverance. 

We started with an energizer hitting the castle (made of holes of toilet paper rolls!) by stacking it first and hitting it with a ball.  We played it like bowling.

We started with our day's activity with meditation and discussed what things do we require to make our living room comfortable.  I prepared one in advance and shared it with kids discussing the pictures I had placed in it.  Now I asked kids to design their own rooms.  Kids started exploring the magazines and I had also brought handful of them.  Kids stuck pictures on colored sheets, some made attached bathroom, some car garage attached to their living room.  They shared their thoughts and thereafter we took a snack break.

After that we started with stacking different sizes of blocks and carton boxes which was fun.  Then I showed model of house I had prepared in before hand – a bedroom with bed, cupboard, table, mat and attached bathroom.  Now it was their turn to convert their 2-d picture into 3-d model.  I provided them with lots of carton boxes, construction paper, magazines, streamers and many more things which they required while building their model.  3 groups were made, where the kids decided themselves who is going to do what.  One group decided to build bathroom model, while other group decided to decorate the walls of the houses and the 3rd group took the task of making objects like bed, cupboards, table, etc.  All the groups helped each other for this collaboration project.  At last our beautiful bedroom with attached bathroom and garage was ready. And last but not least time to have a photo graph with the house. 

Proud of what they had made, with the confidence that a design on paper can be translated to something tangible. 

I SENSED THAT THE KIDS ENJOYED THE SESSION AS MUCH AS I DID.

Smart Genie - Indira Nagar - Nehal - Session 4

 

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SESSION 4
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Today's theme was 'Analysis and Composition'. I distributed some
shapes to all genies. They were supposed to use these shape as
building blocks  and create some new objects using them. Without
any reference or help, genies created some amazing things from
their own imagination. They created caterpillar, monster,
roller-coaster etc.

Later, I put a drawing of human-body in front of them. The
human-body was made with distinctive shapes. Genies identified
these shapes and each one created a copy of it for him/herself
on their own cardboard using the shapes (blocks) given to them.

One genie stuck a vertical stick next to his copy of man and
explained that he was waiting near a traffic-light. One genie noticed
that this man they have just created do not have ears. Other genie
figuerd out a bigger problem - "This man is unable to hear without
the ears!". I provided them all oval shapes, which they used as ears.

Next, we played "passing the ball" game. One genie suggested a
brilliant idea for winning - avoid touching the ball to pass it
to the next player, just blow it away with air !

Thus our session ended. I think genies enjoyed all the activities
as much as I did.

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Smart genie- Fern city

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Smart genie- Tata Sherwood- fotos

Session 7- Smart Genie- Tata Sherwood

SESSION 7

One of the kids came to class today at 9.40 itself and told me that he had come earlier too only to find me missing. I told him that I come at 9.30 , to which he said that he will also come in early next time onwards. I took this as a feedback to show how eager he is to attend the class.

We played jumping over to start with as an energizer and all of us really got energized after the game. Then we did meditation which all the kids are enjoying now. The theme today was composition and we used a lot of leaves, twigs, dried flowers to make some things like butterflies, scenery, jungle, tree with leaves and a caterpillar, etc. it was fun for the kids and they were exited to use the leaves. They called it the leaves project. After the break again we played yet another game suggested by the kids . I have observed that the whole group is full of energy for games all the time. If possible, they will enjoy playing games for the whole session too. During the snacks break, they were all chatting about their siblings and it was a pleasant experience to hear them talking proudly about their siblings.

Post break I mentioned that I was going to give them clay and asked them to think of what they would be making with it. They came up with quite exiting ideas and were very happy to use the clay. None of them said that it was messy or dirty. They composed quite detailed things like a girl making humpty dumpty sitting on a wall, a tea set, a fruit basket, a cake , a man with a hat, sun and clouds, and so on.   They were also very proud of their creations and it was seen on their faces when I took a few pictures today.

They were still left with some energy to play and so reflection was done while playing the blind man's buff. Almost all of them said they enjoyed both , the leaves and the clay.   Today's session was indeed full of activity and the kids wanted to stay back even after one o'clock.

Trupti

 

Smart genie- Fern City 1

smartgenie - fern city, priyanka

 
Session-7 Fern-City

This was good session with the children.  The theme of this session was "Coexistence".

The session started by we all sharing what makes us 'feel happy'.  I asked them to express it by drawing it or writing it down.  We shared this with each other.  We discovered that even doing this exercise of identifying what makes us feel happy, and sharing it – also makes us happy!

Following this – we had one round of 'appreciation'.  Every child shared what he/she liked about him/herself, and what he/she liked about anyone in the group.

We did meditation for a while – and brought the focus back to here and now.

After this we made paper-balls and played a game of aiming those balls to a card-board box kept about 3 feet away.  This was a big hit.  Everyone, including me, got three chances to put the ball into the box.  There were lot of cheers and encouragement – 'you can do it!', 'oh! Just missed', etc.

We started then with the main activity of the day – which was 'Coexistence'.  I had lots of cutouts of pictures of rocks, plants, animals, humans– which they were asked to classify between 'living' and 'non-living'.  We discussed why something is classified as living, and the others non-living.  We realized that different animals lived into different kinds of habitats.  So, we further classified the animals into land-animals and aquatic-animals.

We learned that on Earth – The habitat of any species became ready before that species appeared.  We played a game to emulate it.  I had distributed a sheet each to them – with a picture of 'pond in a jungle' drawn on it.  I raised the cutout of a fish, and asked them to ready the habitat for this fish – so that it could come and live happily?  Children were quick to color the pond…  They then soon also realized that fish would need food to live – and they drew worms, plants etc.  They made a little more aquatic life – and my fish was ready to go and live in their ponds!  I also brought out my surprise-item – some sea-shells, and asked them if they would like to stick those shells also on their drawing.  The kids were very happy to do that!

We had a snack break after this – and we ran to wash our hands…  The fun didn't stop even during eating.  We played rhyming words.  The kid who had brought carrot-halwa said "Red", then another one who had brought a sandwich – said "Bread", and so on!

After the snack-break we had a 'reading time'!  The children were really interested in reading about animals and their habitats.  I had brought some books with me on this subject.  The children read and discussed among themselves – while I sat and observed them, thinking that I will have more books for them next time for this.
We now played another game – in which the kids identified the homes for different land animals.  Like burrow for rabbit, nest for bird, etc.  We continued on the same sheet – and started finding the homes of different animals and birds in that jungle.  There sheets soon were filled with pasted pictures of animals and birds in the jungle, and the earlier black and white drawing was now full of colors.

We had story-time thereafter – where every child told a story around his/her drawing.  Wonderful stories - some wrote those stories down, while others shared by telling.

We all enjoyed this session very much.  We were all surprised to learn it was now time to go back home!

SESSION SIX- Tata Sherwood-Trupti

 SESSION 6

Today the session began with the game " no you can't take me". We played the blind man's buff where I was the denner and I tried to catch all the kids one after the other. All the kids were wearing placards with a body part drawn on each of them. Whoever I caught, I would say , I am going to take you away. They had to reply by saying "no you can't take me because" and tell the reason why each body part is important. We enjoyed the game and the kids also gave reasons and uses of body parts.

Then, we explored doing things with some physical constraint or the other. We started by playing a game where we had to push pencils kept on the floor without using our hands. The kids promptly used their feet . then, we tried to do it without using our hands and legs. After thinking for a while and with some questions, the kids pushed the pencils from one end to the other by blowing them. We then tried writing with our dominant hand followed by doing the same with our non dominant hand. Then, we tried to write without using our thumbs, then with three fingers, then with two. Then I asked how will you write without using both your hands, and the kids promptly used their toes to write. Then I said let us try to write without using both hands and feet. Then they really looked puzzled, but one kid suggested writing with our mouth. We did just that then, enjoying every minute of it.

Then after the break, some of the kids suggested a game and we played it with great enjoyment. They were in a mood to play games and when I said we can play one more game, they were quite happy about it. We then hunted all over the room for hidden pictures of body parts of animals and insects and humans. There was a mad rush to find all the pictures. After finding out the parts, they pieced together the body parts to form the animals or insects and humans and stuck them on a sheets and of course coloured them too. They could also tell what would happen if a tiger did not have his claws, etc.

After this, I suggested that I will tell a story since all of them looked a bit tired after playing. But all the kids wanted to narrate stories themselves and said that I only always tell stories. I took a cue from this feedback that I was probably being more of a leader than a follower and so decided to become a follower. So, all the kids took turns to narrate stories which we all listened.

For reflection too, we played the blind man's buff and whoever I caught, told me what they remembered from today's session or what they liked. Some said they liked everything, some said they enjoyed playing. One kid said he liked the stories and another one said he liked the treasure hunt and the game where we used our non dominant hands.

Overall, it was a fun session and I got to hear a lot of self created interesting stories.

Trupti

# end
 
 

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