PBL: Build Your Own Home! Day 2
Date: 20th July, 2022; Wednesday.
Facilitators: Priyanka, Auindrilla, Sanmoyee, Anupriya, and Abhinanda.
Participants: Arthlings of Arth Hours.
Tags: Pretend and play, role play, understanding our surroundings, PBL.
Welcome to Day 2 of our ‘Build Your Own Home’ PBL series! After our Arthlings built their houses with great aplomb on Day 1, our facilitators got to work thinking about how they could expand on the theme of home-building even further! Since our generous Arthlings were more than happy to invite everyone they knew to live in their houses, our facilitators gave them the opportunity to throw a house party! Planning for the party involved designing invitations and decorating.
PLANNING AND SET UP
The plan was divided into the following steps:
Designing Invitations: Little booklets made out of brown card were provided, with a page each for the date, venue and the names of the invitees. These were accompanied by paper envelopes. Month tags, number stickers and plenty of writing materials were also made available.
Decorating: Colourful sashes, ribbons, animal puppets and animal toys were provided in trays for the children to choose from. Individual trays were also given to the children to collect their materials.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Priyanka Didi began by quizzing the curious Arthlings: Have you ever been to a party? The Arthlings were quick to respond: Yes! Lots of parties!
Priyanka Didi then asked: Did you receive party invitations?
This took some thinking. Hmm, invitations… Our Arthlings thought this word sounded familiar…
As soon as Priyanka Didi showed them their invitation booklets, it made sense! Our Arthlings got to work filling in the invitations for their house party.
The Arthlings were faced with a series of important decisions.
Let’s make our invitations!
When is your party?
The Arthlings were invited to use month tags and number stickers to write a date.
Shivansh wanted a party on his birthday! He asserted that his birthday was very soon! Curiously enough, as the facilitators found out, Shivansh’s birthday happens more than once a year…
All the children happily chose their own tags and stickers to create a date. 56th August! , 31st July! ,33rd June! Our children showed that dates were only limited by the scope of their imaginations!
Arthlings deciding the date(s) for their party!
Arya choosing the month in which she would like to have her party.
Where is your party?
The facilitators invited the children to write their addresses.
Ayansh had a very pertinent question: What is an address? Once this very important doubt was solved, he carefully drew a replica of his home to make sure no guests would have trouble finding it!
Who would you like to invite to your party?
Our Arthlings once again showed great generosity of spirit while choosing their guests. Hazzel wanted to invite her parents; Yuvaan wanted to invite his family and Nitara. Nitara wanted to invite Yuvaan, Rishit and her family! Everyone agreed that when it came to parties, the more the merrier!
Arthlings deciding and writing down the people they would like to invite to their house-warming party!
The blue envelopes are here! Letters are ready to be posted.
Posting the letters: A bright red mailbox then appeared on the scene! Priyanka Didi called for all the Arthlings to seal their invitations in their envelopes, and to drop them in the mailbox for the postman to collect!
Viaan was not impressed by this proposal. He claimed that his invitation would reach home much faster if he carried it! However, after some discussion, he decided to trust the postman. All Arthlings sealed their envelopes with colourful stickers to get them ready for their journey by mail!
‘‘When are you having your party, Ayansh?’’, Sanmoyee Didi asks.
Ayansh checking the red mailbox before posting his invitation letter.
Choosing materials for decoration: After posting their invitations, our Arthlings gathered materials for their party decorations! The sashes were very popular; Hazzel chose a blue sash with sparkles, while Vaanya chose the pink! In another corner of the classroom, the puppets took centrestage. Once their decorations were finalized, the children helped with cleanup!
Shivansh looks submerged choosing the materials he would need for his party decoration.
Shivanshika looked excited by finding the assortment of party decorations.
Arya chose to go with a pink dupatta for her house party.
Maryam and Yuvaan showing Nikita Didi the animals they’ve chosen to invite in their parties.
OUTCOME AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The second part of our ‘Build Your Own Home’ series helped our Arthlings further acquaint themselves with the world around them. This instalment carried important literacy skills, as well as an introduction to the concept of dates, addresses, and mail. Our Arthlings shine whenever they are presented the opportunity to be self-reliant! Our PBL series aims to prepare them with skills that they will use for many years to come.
Stay tuned for Part 3!