2017 at Anokhi started with a bang – the much anticipated trip to ‘The Farm’. In spite of it being a chilly, wintry morning, the air was charged with excitement. Come 7:30am, everyone was bundled up, all geared up for ‘their first ever Field Trip’. The hour long bus drive flew off in a jiffy, amidst a lot of singing and different games. The moment ‘The Farm’ came into sight, our li’l ones couldn’t wait to disembark and race off, to pet all the animals. Initially, a little apprehensive, they soon warmed up and all the farm dogs were showered with hugs aplenty. The next stop was the hen coop, where our brave tykes themselves fed their feathered friends. The rabbits, turtles, and land tortoise were next in line and apart from feeding them, our children also learnt a lot of facts about these animals which will stay with them for a long time to come. They also got to see one of the beautiful miracles of nature: An egg hatching and the developmental stages of a fledgeling. All the animal feeding got our munchkins really hungry and resulted in a little picnic on the lovely lawns of the ‘The Farm’, owned by the extremely pleasant Kanteli. She was our most patient and charming guide, and host, taking all of us around and answering the never ending queries of our curious little ones! Post the picnic, we had a fascinating nature walk in her beautiful property. Kanteli helped us pluck Curry Leaves, Tamarind, Pepper, and the Wood Sorrel, and showed us how Turmeric is harvested. We all left with a little goodie bag of fresh produce from the farm and a holistic experience to last us a lifetime.
A Trip to the Supermarket
The very thought of an excursion or trip excites even the most reticent of us. So one can only imagine how excited, the little ones were when we told them we had a field trip in store for them. Everyday, as snack is being prepared at school, the children relentlessly ask,” Aunty, what is being made for snack today?” ..the delish aromas emerging from the kitchen, only urging them to do so even more. So, when we told them our field trip was to the neighbourhood supermarket, to procure the ingredients for Snack for the following day, they could hardly contain their excitement! Two of their favourite things coming together – Food and An Outing- it really couldn’t get any better than this! With the incessant rains hitting the city of late, we all had our fingers crossed that the Weather Gods wouldn’t let us down. Luckily, ‘D Day’ dawned, bright and sunny, with a beautiful nip in the air. Step one – was deciding what was going to be made for Snack and making a list for the same. The discussions on this, started a few days in advance. Finally, we settled down on ‘Pulao with Curds’, with a long list of 15 ingredients. Step two- getting this excited bunch to the supermarket and showing them around, where we were greeted with many smiles from all those around us. It was remarkable to see how they followed all our instructions to the ‘T ‘and understood the importance of staying together as a group, especially in an unfamiliar environment. It took us a good hour just walking around, exploring all the nooks and corners, discovering where their kitchen provisions came from, and recognising several, familiar products which they saw and used on a daily basis. Step three- picking up the ingredients for the Pulao! By now, the little ones had already memorised the entire list and in no time we had them picking up everything most efficiently. The billing procedure at the cash counter was another thing which they observed with a lot of interest. Finally, a tired but very satisfied bunch got back to school. But it wasn’t over just as yet. The Curd still had to be set for the ‘much awaited Pulao’ and obviously, they had to have a hand in preparing it as well. So the next morning, shelling peas and grating carrots was the first thing on the agenda after checking if the curd has been set. Snack time is always an anticipated time at school but never had it been like this before! The ‘Simple Pulao and Curds’ never tasted better and second helpings seemed to be the order of the day. Language and math activities also seemed to be inspired by our field trip, with them wanting to express their experiences in their own words, and also work out the amount that we had spent. All in all, one can only say, it was a complete win-win situation, for everyone involved.
Summer Camp at Anokhi
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We had a very exciting and eventful Summer Camp for 2 weeks from the 13th of April to the 24th. Both the children and the adults eagerly looked forward to each day with a lot of enthusiasm. We started the camp with a traditional approach to Art via the activity of Stringing a flower garland and making a Thoranam. We explained to the children that this activity signified an auspicious beginning. They thoroughly enjoyed it in their own little ways… while one braided her hair with the flowers, another one made a “special garland” for her mother who has “short hair”. An activity that we really enjoyed watching them do was when they had to lie down and trace their friends’ outlines to make a life size sketch, to which they then added details. One little girl frantically ran around asking her friends, “What colour are my eyes?”, while another one chose to depict herself as if she was playing Holi. Attention to detail was obvious in the way they illustrated minute elements like rubber bands and clips in the hair, eyelashes curling upwards and so on. The other activities offered were Paper Mache, Collage, Rangoli making, and Block Printing. The children also made Gift wrapping paper using newspaper. This was done on the 22nd of April, which was Earth Day. They realised that Art can also be a very creative way to recycle and reuse. We also had an interactive discussion about conserving various resources like paper, water and electricity. Children learnt about Waste Segregation too, through an exercise of separating dry and wet waste into different bins. Cooking was one collaborative, fun experience where all we had to do was lay out the ingredients and the children did everything else. Right from chopping fruits and vegetables, grating cheese, squeezing out juice, sieving flour,to rolling out dough, making chapatis and dosas, and even baking a cake!! While we noticed some inherent chefs in the making, a few others just couldn’t wait to taste their own creations.The first question they would ask us as they walked in each day was, “Aunty, what are we making for snack today?” The other area that really intrigued them was Science. We did a lot of simple experiments demonstrating different phenomena like Static Electricity, Capillary Action, Density, and various other chemical reactions. Some of the experiments were very dramatic and instantly generated a lot of “oohs” and “aahs”, while a few others, required them to wait patiently and observe the result over a few days. It invoked their curiosity to such an extent that one of them herself did an experiment at home, which she eagerly got the next day, to show all of us! Each week ended with a special guest visiting us. For the first week, it was a four legged friend, Ropy brought by Sheetal, a passionate dog lover who is also a member of CUPA. This Pet Awareness Programme initially generated a lot of mixed reactions ranging from anxiety to excitement. But by the end of it, they understood that animals too have emotions just like us, and they were a lot more sensitive towards them. Sheetal also shared a lot of personal anecdotes of animals that she has rescued over the years and even gave us tips on taking care of dogs, in particular. The highlight was when one child remarked, “I think even Ropy is getting emotional listening to all these stories!” The second week ended on a musical note, with a Musician/ Singer/Songwriter, Rajeev, who gave the children an insight into music and who also exposed them to a few musical instruments such as an Acoustic Guitar, a Pan flute and a Harmonica. The children enjoyed singing and keeping beat while he accompanied them on his guitar. By the end of the camp we were like a small family with a whole lot of memories to cherish. Each child’s unique personality was reflected throughout the camp and their infectious energy and zest has set the tone for the rest of the year. 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