"The basic attempt is to
help individuals regain the wisdom and confidence lying embedded within their own
communities and culture."
"We are born with an aesthetic sense. This sense connects us to the world,
and informs the way we conduct our lives."
"Our
senses are doors to the outer world and also to the inner world. We must refine our senses
in order to make it easier for us to experience beauty and understand the world around
us."
"The goal
is to awaken the senses and feelings."
"There is no teaching."
Seeing nature
Color: Children
are asked to collect leaves, flowers, rocks and such of various colors. They then make the
color by mixing the primary colors. They also do a color scale with two colors.- Lines: children collect different types of
leaves, including twisted and bug-eaten ones, and draw then in detail. They can also draw
simple objects like a brush, a chair, portraits, village scenes, houses etc.
- Shading: Light and shade is introduced.
SPECIAL EXERCISE: Provided with two primary
colors, children are asked to create a shade card, starting from one color and arriving at
the other through every successive, gradual color combination in between.
Touching nature
- Children create a "textural rainbow" using objects of
varying texture. They collect objects with different surfaces — bark, cloth, leaves,
fruit shells -- from smooth to rough to abrasive. They then simulate these textures on
blocks of clay.
Smelling & tasting nature
- Place different objects in front of children who are blindfolded
and have them identify the objects by smelling and tasting them.
Hearing nature:
- Have children do things associated with sound -- make whistles
made of leaves, rattles, etc. Many children are also good at imitating birds. To sharpen
hearing, soft/loud sounds are made, imitating bird and animal calls.
Other activities:
Make a model of the neighborhood
using clay.- Make things using paper, leaves etc.
- Poetry, story telling/making .
- Children are introduced to medical plants. Children are invited to
ask their parents and grandparents if they know of any uses.
- Teach children to work in groups, to share & collaborate
- To increase awareness of surroundings and sharpen observation,
children are asked to draw natural things in minute details. Large composite activities
are assigned to groups, older children `leading' each group. They are asked to create
collages/pictures using cut leaves and colorful magazine paper. Another group creates a
whole village out of clay.
K. B. Jinan