Interactions and Activities
STORIES
Purpose: Stories have always been a medium to connect human hearts and mind. They hold in them all kinds of emotions that can resonate at times like these when we need to hold on to something positive. We imagine that virtual engagement and some of the opening weeks in the school can have an element of storytelling and listening. These stories can be on any theme. Preparation: Storyweaver can be accessed on the mobile for reading the stories. The platform has stories in multiple languages and can be accessed accordingly. It would be ideal to have a small storytelling in the morning assembly. Facilitator can try storytelling or work with a teacher or student to lead it. Alternatively, a story club can also be formed or audio stories can also be played. In case of virtual engagement a storytelling day can be planned on the calendar. Story chosen can be short as per the time available, relatable for the audience, varied in themes (stem, gender, humor, hope), easy language, less dependence on illustrations. For listening purpose level 3 or level 4 stories may be best. Process: There is no one process here and this can be done as it works out however the following tips for storytelling may help anyone who wants to do the telling:
1. Read the story before presenting.
2. Practice to present – where to do voice modulation, where to stop to ask questions and what– mark these points in your head. A practice beforehand helps!
3. At the time of presenting – loud and clear voice, some intonation and expressions adds to the telling, let audience appreciate and no need of questions in the end.
TIP: Village elders, teachers, parents can also be invited to share a folk story of the region or a folk song can also be sung together. Some recommendations from storyweaver: Tara finds her stars https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/1219-tara-finds-her-stars Kalpana's Cycle https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/11283-kalpana-s-cycle Chuskit goes to school https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/21-chuskit-goes-to-school Only fools go to school https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/106261-only-fools-go-to-school The story of Wangari Mathai https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/13814-a-tiny-seed-the-story-of-wangari-maathai Same-same or different https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/10963-same-same-or-different
Other apps/websites with stories and storytelling demos as well as stories: Books pdf in Hindi, English and Marathi + multiple games, videos http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/ Many links for many books by Tulika Publishers https://www.tulikabooks.com/info/e-tulika Audio books in Hindi younger children https://www.eklavya.in/books/audio-books
TALK TIME
Purpose: In all likeliness, as the schools reopen, everyone would rush to catch-up with their work, studies and everyday life. Our conversations shall also get centered around our daily chores, our work and whatever it will be at the top of our mind. Talk time shall allow us to shed those and speak about ourselves for a while. This can include teachers, children, head-master and even parents. Preparation: It would be ideal to have a small talk-time in the morning assembly. Would be good to put out a poster in the school about it. In virtual engagement this would need prompts, triggers and a level of comfort in the group. The Talk-time themes or questions can be designed. Some sample questions are provided here:
What do enjoy doing the most? Talk about your favorite place.
What makes you bored? Talk about a visit/trip you remember the most.
What is your favorite part of the day? Talk about your favorite person.
What makes you scared? What do you do with your friends?
Talk about a book you read. Talk about a day outside school.
Process:
Teachers can be requested to initiate or participate in the talk time.
There can be a bowl with many questions on it (as in the sample) and the teacher can pick up one of them to talk for 5 minutes.
Facilitator can demonstrate talk time when it happens for the first time.
During virtual engagement or even direct there can be trigger questions around lockdown days as well like: What did i miss the most? What did I spend most of my time doing? What was the most boring part about the lockdown? What was something new that I learnt during the lockdown? What was something I unlearned ? etc.
Children can also be encouraged for the same.
The questions need to help talk about a feeling on a happier note.
This can happen in the assembly or a time can be created for the same.
TIP: Parents or other members of the community can also be invited to share.
MY SAFE SCHOOL, / MY SAFE HOME- POSTER DESIGN
Purpose:
Children will be involved with the school spaces and beyond. As part of this some activities can be done in groups with rotating responsibility among children.
Preparation
Some material required for this shall be part of the preparation – thick charts in different colors, sketchpen sets, scissors, glue, threads, double sided tapes, trash material can also be used.
A dedicated time for this should be worked out with school authorities and space where children can sit to do this.
Announcement about this would have to be made and some children can lead the task with Teacher’s involvement.
Process
The children who show interest in this activity can gather at a decided time.
A mapping of the school premises can be done on a chart paper.
Once the mapping is done different spaces can be assigned to groups of children.
For these different spaces ‘Stay Safe’ posters can be created – near the bathroom (washing hands), physical distance at mid day meals and break times, wearing mask (make your mask guide), not touching face, visitors to school – hygiene, being kind and supportive towards each other and other such practices that we may want to promote both for physical and mental health.
Once the poster is ready they can be put at different places as marked in the school map.
TIP: children can be encouraged to research for the kind of messages they would want to put up. If the lockdown continues children can also do this for their home, neighborhood and community spaces.
CRAFTS for GOOD
Purpose:
In Craft for Good children can create 5 different things that would help bring out their feelings about the current scenario as visuals or in words.
Preparation:
Trash material, colors, threads, wool, decorative small items, scissors, glue, card paper, etc. things that can be used in craft can be kept ready.
To organize this a dedicated time and space can be worked out with the school.
The material can be displayed in the center and children can sit around it in a circle or in smaller groups.
Process:
a. Bookmarks – Bookmark is used in between books to mark till where one has read, mark an important page. Book marks can be kept in the library for further use. It’s an activity which gives space for creativity and can involve craft work as well. Book Marks can be of different shapes and sizes, made with trash of all kinds.
For making bookmarks trash like old cloth or pieces of cloth, wool, objects, dry leaves, old book covers, train tickets, any scrap material etc can be utilized. Along with that pen for writing, some colors and thick sheets of paper cut-outs in different shapes and generally of size 5 x 2 can be used.
Children can be allowed to make bookmarks on their own. Some prompts can be: a book one would like to visually represent, a favorite illustration from a book, a quote or character that one likes etc.
Children can also gift these bookmarks to each other or to the teacher
b. Message Torans – Like the torans put on door entrances, message torans can be put across a gallery. To create these even Bookmarks can be tied together or children can cut triangles out of paper, write messages on them and tie a toran together. For example: a message like ‘STAY SAFE’ can be written with one alphabet appearing on each piece and then tied together.
c. Message Wristband – A message of friendship, safety can also be created as a wristband with a craft paper folded into a thin bangle size width and shape. Once the message is written it can be put around the wrist and glued. Children can gift this to each other or to the teacher.
d. Message ROCKS – Many rocks just lie around in the school. These can have visual messages and paint. These can be placed in a jar or at one place in the school. These can also be single words of feelings. Message rocks can be used to even talk about feeling.
Tip: Children might have learnt some craft or art during the lockdown. Invite them in a virtual or a physical session as possible to share what they have learnt and teach others.
COLLABORATIVE MESSAGE/FEELINGS MURAL
Purpose:
In Collaborative message or Feeling Mural, collection of individual feelings or messages will be represented on a wall for the entire school. This would be a great chance to bring everyone together and experience the feeling of being a community.
Preparation:
If not a wall then,
A sheet of cloth, white in color on which one can write with a sketch pen or watercolor.
Alternatively, several charts can be joined together for the purpose.
Alternatively, everyone's written messages or feelings can be pasted together like stitched pieces of cloth.
To organize this a dedicated time and space can be worked out with the school.
The material can be displayed in the center and children can sit around it in a circle or in smaller groups.
This can also be done in classes and brought together.
Image Source: Pixabay
Process:
Teachers and children can think of writing in one sentence ‘how do they feel to be back to school’.
Everyone can also draw to represent their feelings or write a message too.
Once all these are collected, they can be pasted together on a sheet of cloth or charts.
Alternatively, everyone can come and write on one sheet of cloth or chart.
This can be displayed in a central gallery / wall of the school.
Tip: If the lockdown continues longer, children can do this and share images and the facilitator can even stitch them together in a virtual collage or scratch project!
SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Purpose: Group bonding, feel good factor, empathy and connection
Preparation: Sunflower seeds or any other seeds in a large quantity
Process:
Have one Student start off with a handful of seeds (usually the leader) and he/she goes to one person in the group, gives them a few of his seeds, and says some encouraging things to that person.
And have it spread like a chain reaction
COOPERATIVE DRAWING
Purpose: Group bonding, collaboration, team work, connection
Preparation: Chart papers, pens, colors
Process:
Each person uses a different colored pen, creates a squiggly line or scribble (the only rule is no intersecting lines) and passes it to the person on the right who makes a drawing out of it.
When a squiggle is received it can be rotated in any direction to get an idea what to make out of it.
The drawings can be wild and imaginative, they are not judged, they're just for fun. The results usually bring lots of laughter.
TINY TEACH
Purpose: Learning something from a peer.
Process:
Task will be for team members to teach another person something new.
Ask the team members to pair up.
Ask them to teach each other something that will take only a few minutes to learn.
The lesson could be a skill, like how to use a blade of grass as a whistle, or it could be intellectual knowledge or a few sentences from their native language.
After they teach each other, ask the pairs to demonstrate to the group what they learned.
Tip: Anything new that children might have learnt during the lockdown can also be done here. Invite them to teach - may be a story they created, a skill they learnt, a craft or anything else.
THE 4 Q’s
Purpose: To explore self-image and Identity
Preparation: Paper
Process: Name a cartoon character, a color, a vehicle, and a type of food that best describes your personality and why!
Everyone in the class sits with a sheet of paper to write these while the teacher can put out each theme on the board as it comes.
All the sheets can be put up together towards the end.
NAME:__________________________________________________________
Cartoon:________________________________________________________
Character:________________________________________________
WHY?__________________________________________________________
Color:__________________________________________________________
WHY?__________________________________________________________
Vehicle:_________________________________________________________
WHY?__________________________________________________________
Food:_________________________________________________________
WHY?__________________________________________________________
THE PIE OF LIFE
Purpose: Self Exploration; creative expression of one’s daily life
Preparation: paper, markers, scissors
Process:
Ask the group to draw a large circle on a piece of paper.
Tell the group that the circle they just drew represents a day in their life.
Ask the group to cut slices of the pie to represent the amount of time they spend doing different things.
Example: the amount of time you sleep on a typical day, at school, daydreaming, with friends, alone.
Have them label their slices. After the group has finished slicing their life pies, have them share with the group (if they are comfortable). Give each person time to talk about one or more of their slices.
Note: This activity could be repeated for 2 phases.
1. During Lockdown
2. After School reopening
Debrief:
1. Get students into pairs and talk about their pies.
2. What did they like about the lock down?
3. How does it feel to come back to school?
4. What are some activities they would like to do more of? Less of? Differently?
5. What are some new habits they would like to develop as they begin school?
DEALING STORIES
Purpose: Story building, creativity
Preparation: a deck of cards
Process:
1. Gather the group into a circle and deal a card to each child. In virtual engagement each student can be assigned a card.
2. The card they receive will determine how many stories and what kind of stories from their lives they will tell the group.
3. You can decide on these designations before-hand.
4. Here are some suggestions:
- Hearts: love story
- Clubs: funny story
- Spades: sad story
- Diamonds: made up story
- Ace: the story that shows off their best qualities
- King: a story about power
- Queen: a story about liberation / justice making
- Jolly: a story about someone named Jolly or the feeling !
Go around the circle and hear everyone’s story, then re-deal the cards.
GRATITUDE JAR
Purpose: Developing an attitude of gratitude, shifting focus on the better side of life
Preparation: An old jar or box
Process:
1. Take an old jar or box
2. Make chits of paper and write three things you are grateful for and put it in your gratitude jar
3. The things you are grateful for need not be big things, it could be as little as - I have a house, I am breathing, I saw a flower blooming, I have food to eat, etc.,
4. Once the jar is full, you could empty it in a bigger jar or keep the chits away and reuse the same jar.
Whenever, you are sad, upset or angry, you could pick some chits and read the things you are grateful for.
And, add chits every day.
Alternatively, you could also maintain a gratitude journal.
You could every day write 3 things you are grateful for, before going to bed or as soon as you wake up.
THE FAMILY PICTURE
Purpose: This activity is to help children talk about themselves in the context of being a family member and what that means for them during COVID crisis.
Preparation: Drawing sheets, colors, pencils, erasers, sketchpens etc.
Process: Ask children to draw their family members in the present times. Once they have drawn some children can be encouraged to talk about them and their feelings. There can also be conversations around how family members can help each other, how children feel they should be supported during this time and beyond.
AFFIRMATION BINGO
Purpose: Building groups with positivity
Preparation: Bingo sheets printed depending on the number of students
Process: Give a sheet to each child. Children can keep this sheet with them and tick mark as they complete some of the things listed here. Anyone who completes a row and column first can say BINGO
| Thank someone for something specific. | Compliment someone else’s hairstyle. | Recite a few lines of a nice poem or song. | Answer someone’s questions about something. | Tell a funny joke. |
| Give someone a shoulder rub. | Say “I’m glad you are here!” | Share something you have with you (gum, etc.) | Laugh a joke someone makes (even if it’s not funny.) | Ask “How are you?” and really listen to the answer. |
| Compliment someone on their cooking. | List three good things about someone. | Tell someone you care. | Say “You are loved!” | Share an encouraging thought or story with someone. |
| Tell someone what he or she adds to the group. | Smile at someone. | Tell someone he or she is wonderful! | Applaud someone who does something nice for you! | Compliment someone’s taste in something (music, art, movies, etc.) |
| Ask someone about their children. | State a positive wish for someone. | Compliment someone. | Offer someone a chair to sit in. | Offer someone something to drink. |
GUIDED JOURNAL
Purpose: Journaling can be enjoyable, reflective and can also help in dealing with Big Feelings in life.
Preparation:
Practice journaling yourself and think of prompts you can give to children. These could be visual, verbal or written. Basically it would be good to prepare.
Process:
There is no one fixed process for journaling given the nature of this activity. However, to guide children you can prepare in advance. There is a resource of writing prompts provided with this activity. (Writing Prompts pdf) which you can refer to and you can also create your own prompts in the form of an image or an audio message.
While mostly journals can be about one self. Sometimes there can be variation provided too like an image, sentence, visual to prompt creative writing.
Image Source: https://writingprompts.tumblr.com/
It would be good to share your own journal too if possible around the same prompt to encourage.
Journaling can be guided if you have time scheduled with children. As you give prompts they can start writing and you can give the next prompt once you feel children have written about the first one.
Journaling can also be done in dialogues. Two children can sit together to talk about a prompt through a dialogue journal. It can start with something as simple as ‘What is your plan for today?’ or ‘How are you feeling today?’, ‘How did your day start?’ etc.
You can encourage children to share their journal. Ensure that everyone feels appreciated and not judged. If you feel as a group it may not be a safe space to share a journal, avoid sharing and let it stay with children.