Week 2 - Day 9 - Games Rain Tried To Disturb

 


All work and no play make Jack dull. Not only Jack. Even 14-year-old Pushparaj. Six-year-old Dimple. And several other children gave company to me at the Antriksh Golf Links construction site.

Once I week, it was agreed that the kids will play instead of the routine classroom sessions. 

They welcomed such a schedule change when I announced it the previous day. They jumped in joy. Who does not like a session away from books and notebooks? 

Games we discussed were: skipping, and ball throwing among other options. Of course, running race. 14 and below age group. Instead of the routine 10 a.m. class, we agreed to meet at 8 a.m. to play in the open space.

Will they turn up at 8 a.m.? They promised. 

Children's promise to be punctual on the sports day is easily achieved. What about items such as the skipping rope? Ball? And what more can be added to the games?

Luckily, my daughter bought a lot of indoor exercise items, including the skipping kit. I found it was for professionals or health freaks. not for kids. So I had to visit Decathalon stores at Gaur City Mall to buy a sporty skipping rope. Actually, it is not a rope but a plastic one. Does not matter. 

Bought a ball too. 

Then thought of the lemon race. Place the lemon on a teaspoon and get the children to run for a short distance and ensure the lemon does not dislodge from the teaspoon. 

Bucketing the ball is another game to play, I have in mind. Ball, I have. Bucket? Ask the kids to bring them from home. 

Sack race? Thinking.



Two kids have to support the ball between their backs and walk a distance. The longer distance they carry the ball without dropping is the winner. 

Loop. Remember the opening scene from Eye In The Sky? A girl child dancing with a loop around her waist and not dropping it. 

Running Race. 

Early morning rains tried to upset the program, but the games did happen. Instead of 8 a.m. as originally planned, we began at 0930 hours. 

Great participation from kids. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 3 - Weekly Round Up

Image
  The first fortnight of acquaintance with the children of construction workers with no access to education in Greater Noida where their migrant parents engaged in building mansions/flats and villas for the better-to-do fellow Indians helped to build bonding with them.  The eldest kid, Pushparaj at 14 (he is doubtful of his age!) had been to school in Chattisgarh. He is not ready to reveal which class he was studying back home. It does not matter. A slow learner. On the other hand, 5-year-old Tejas and 6-year-old Dimple are sharp and have better grasping abilities. But the best student is Ekeswari. Intelligent. Quick grasp. She was studying class 4 before uprooted from Chattisgarh to Greater Noida on account of her parents' career in the building industry. Once the rapport was established, I began to focus on helping them improve their personal hygiene. They attend the daily 90-minute class after bathing and some food. But their dressing was not good. They wore dirty clothes....
Read more

Week 2 - Day 6 - You Need Bluetooth!

Image
  Out of the blue, Sangeeta said matter of factly: "You need a Bluetooth!"   Sangeetha? Bluetooth?  Why so much incredulity? Can't she possess a Bluetooth? Just because she is a construction worker, is it too much to hear her talking about such modern gadgets?  My challenge was: that the laptop speaker was not audible to the assembled children wanting to hear their favorite rhyme: Found A Peanut... I tried to increase the laptop speaker volume in vain. Still low sound.  That's when the early-thirties Sangeeta broached the subject of Bluetooth. "You have one?" I asked. She nodded.  She was seated on the wooden plank in the open hall where I hold my daily classes for the construction workers' kids. Significantly, she was instrumental in my decision to do this bit of "useful" work: educating the construction workers' children, who are missing school back home because their parents are migrant workers.  Daily she pays a visit to the class to se...
Read more

Day 1 - Rendezvous with the first dozen

Image
  The night before the first-day session, I was rolling in the bed trying to figure out what to "teach". But the die has been cast.  One thing, I was clear about: children should enjoy the session. Not pedagogy. I stuffed a notebook, a few pencils, eraser. Then, I remembered to tuck in two toffee pouches. After parking the car, as I walked towards the Tower under construction where I met Ram Narain, I noticed him walking a few yards ahead. He did not notice me till I "hello"ed him. "You go to the first floor where we met yesterday, I will send children," he said. I climbed the stairs and kept my belongings, including a sheaf of daily newspapers I carried from home (I have no idea why I carried that), and two bottles of chilled water on the sewing machine serving as the table. I sat on the wooden plank wondering how to begin the class. Suddenly, a burst of laughter and a thud of running I heard. I looked out of the wall-less veranda to notice a clutch of ch...
Read more