The Joy of Learning with Children at Chinnara Mela

A brief session on the bunds of Kukkarahalli Lake 

Chinnara Mela, the month long summer camp conducted by Rangayana, Mysore is a much awaited camp for children of Mysore and much anticipated sojourn for their parents. It is the 10^th year of our involvement in Chinnara mela. Each year we are taking out these children in the wee hours around the Rangayana campus and Kukkarahalli Lake for a nature walk that lasts for 10 days. This year also we had an opportunity to take the ever energetic, ever demanding and ever playful kids for the nature walk. The participants were divided into 10 groups according to their age and we take out around 30 children each morning. We divided these 30 into 3 groups having 10 kids with each one of us and took them in three different routes, eventually to reassemble at the Reptile Corner to have a discussion for the day.

Manu K talking to participants

The youngest group is the most restless one with mind full of questions and body full of energy. We trained them to look around and observe the nature so as to know more about plants, insects and birds. This requires a lot of patience and silence! Unexpected questions from the youngest and the most active learning lot like “why are the birds here?”, “How do they live?”, “How do they build homes?”, “Why do they nest each time?”, “Why can’t they use the same nest to breed each time? “, make us feel to learn more with them.  

Bird identification with Guru

Listening to the melody of bird calls

Binoculars, spot scopes and cameras are extremely useful in bird watching. Younger children are more inquisitive about the food and nesting habits of birds. In Kukkarahalli lake, they could watch water birds like Purple Moorhen, Darter, Dab chicks, Egrets, Pond Heron, Painted Stork, Spot billed Duck, Pelicans, etc.,. Kites and other birds were also spotted. Children were given awareness about plant – animal interdependence in nature. They were briefed about the importance of lakes in maintaining the health of a city. Mr Manu K explained the need to keep the lake clean and our role in protecting the lake.

Dabchick

Gray Heron

Painted Stork

Wild Passion Flower

Wrightia tinctoria at bloom

When we look back at Chinnara Mela, the “Nature Walk” was the only session that was engrossed in silence as compared to other sessions of dramatics and play activities. The importance of silence is emphasized in understanding the life around us, because we are the only species who are noisy and announce our presence aloud masking the mild melody of nature.

-         - Guruprasad B S

-        -  Praneetha

-         - Sangamesh Matad

-          -Nithya   

Photo Courtesy: Guruprasad B S