Have you tried communicating with citizens of other planets?
Starting this academic year, Khel Planet launched its Mumbai operations. In the month of June we conducted a 10-HOUR WORKSHOPS SERIES on ARTS OF COMMUNICATION with 5th graders of the Mahila Mandal Girls’ High School in Kurla, Mumbai.
In this series, children were introduced to various aspects of communication, such as, verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, public speaking and presentation skills through games and activities. The theme of the workshop opens in the year 2070, where teams of students from different planets have gathered to participate in the universe conference. Their task is to learn about the other planet teams as much as they can and also tell others about themselves. Because everyone comes from different planets, just talking to express isn’t enough, they have to use their whole bodies for communicating.
Over the course of 5 days, every student took the opportunity to stand in front of the class and speak / act / draw or mime. We started with a handful of energetic students who would volunteer to come forward. Majority of the others would hide behind each other and hope that they didn’t have to do or say anything. To help the students overcome their hesitation and shyness, we did a number of easy group activities where all children could participate without being singled out. We co-created rules with children where they decided not to laugh at or make fun of anyone who stumbles while on the stage. By the end of day three every single student felt encouraged to volunteer and come forward to lead activities. The students also learnt to look out for each other within their teams to ensure that no one was being left behind.
We also invited and engaged several teachers in the school during the workshops. These teachers are now inspired to use play based methods to work with the students.
At the end of the workshop series, the children received participation certificates from Khel Planet Foundation. This workshop series was possible due to grant support from Maharashtra Foundation and partnership with Unique Vikas Sansthan.
