Learning by Doing

I start with a story.

Aarav, a six year old boy, is always eager to do something new. If he has nothing to do, he sulks, throws tantrum and gets irritated. Keeping him calm and occupied, at the same time not putting down his enthusiasm is a challenge for his mother. On her part, she engages him in different activities that interests him and enrolled him to an art class as he showed an inclination towards drawing. She also involves him in other activities like gardening, cooking, crafts, reading and even looking after his kid sister, Taanya!

During some days, after all these activities, he jumps up and utters “It’s boring Amma”!!

Aarav’s interests vary from children of his age. At play time in his school he often complains that no one wants to play with him. On enquiry, the teacher found that he wanted to drive an imaginary Jeep into an imaginary forest to photograph wild animals, a concept that his classmates cannot relate with! The teacher also learnt that Aarav wants to go on an excavation trip to collect fossils!  

The other day on a school trip to a park in the city, Aarav was seen alone, picking things under a tree, while the rest of the class played games. When the teacher asked what he was doing under the tree, he turned around and presented her the life cycle of a tree, from seed, bud, flower, and leaves to fruit!

Aarav’s favourite, Suneel uncle, admires his zeal to learn. He makes it a point to work on a project of Aarav’s interest during every visit. During the previous visit, they went on a picnic to Kovai kutralam, a waterfall in the Nilgiris. During the short trek to reach the waterfall, Aarav never left Suneel uncle’s side. They collected leaves, of various natural vegetation of the region and tried to identify each of them! On the way back, he asked Suneel uncle if it was possible to make a miniature jungle!

Aarav and Suneel uncle had already made working models of an erupting volcano, solar system and origami animals. This time, they planned to make a miniature jungle! As planned Suneel uncle brought his treasured miniature animals and spread it in front of Aarav. He was excited to see so many miniature animals and quickly sorted them into groups of wild animals, domestic animals, aquatic animals, and animals that are extinct. He then selected the wild animals for his next project, “The African Jungle”.

Project African Jungle began with great excitement and this is  how they created it.

It required:

1.       Paper mache

2.       A hard board

3.       Craft wire

4.       Gum tape

5.       Sponge

6.       Scotch brite scrub

7.       Thick thread

8.       Adhesive

9.       Paint brush and

10.   Acrylic paint

Here is method used to create Aarav’s African Jungle:

·         Newspaper was torn into tiny bits and soaked in water for an hour, then it was ground in to a pulp and mixed with an adhesive (like fevicol) to make a thick dough. Paper mache was ready and will be used as the jungle terrain.

·         A hard board was used as the base (The Jungle floor). The land and a stream were sketched on the board

·         The paper mache was laid carefully as the jungle terrain over the sketched areas and was allowed to dry in the sun.

·         The jungle required trees, lots of them. To make the miniature tress craft wire, gum tape, scotch scrub and sponge were used.

·         A thick thread was soaked in green paint and the adhesive to make water weeds in the stream.

·         After the terrain dried, terrain, stream and trees were painted.  Then, the animals and trees were fixed into positions.

The entire family lent a helping hand for cutting, pasting, grinding, mixing and so on.  It took a good 6 hours to complete the project. Once complete, there was a collective WOW from everyone. The glint of happiness in Aarav’s eyes were unmissable. And, before completing the African Jungle, Aarav and Suneel uncle were already planning about their future projects!

                         

What does this story have to do with us, the teachers and parents?

Concrete experiences and hands-on work are great ways to learn for kids. When kids work on tasks like crafts, charts and models, they explore their surroundings of people, stuff and places.

The important aspect here is not just keeping the children occupied, but to ignite their ability to create and add life to their imagination. Children of this age enjoy lazily watching their favourite cartoon on TV, but that will not reveal their inner skills nor will it allow them to explore the world around them. It is necessary for every parent to provide a congenial atmosphere to their child to develop skills and enhance interest in exploring their surroundings. Many children will have interests like Aarav, but when they are not nurtured at the right time, they lose interest and prefer watching the TV. In today’s busy and fast paced world, where both parents work, due importance must be given to nurture the interest of their children. These are moments and memories they cherish throughout their lives.

Teachers can also engage the class in such projects as these are group activities. Providing hands on tasks to children not only keeps them engaged but enhances their attentiveness and promotes new learning.

- Champa Jaiprakash