"It's not what you do for your children, but what you teach them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings."
Sydney Gurewitz Clemens says "Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else." Maryann F. Kohl says "Art encourages children to think, develop skills and confidence as they go. Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves and to explore what is possible." The act of creating for young children is about the process, not the outcome. Children need to explore, take risks, make their own choices. This is the richness of creativity. This is the groundwork for future problem solvers.
"Fun with trash" is a collaborative initiative between peacemakerspakistani and Upcyclers.pk as a series of workshop that culminates on a fun activity day, primarily focusing on inculcating the ideas of sustainability and recycling in young children... Aiming to sensitise our generation towards Future Generations about Effects of Consumption & Waste Production, Global Environment & Solutions through Placemaking & Upcycling Strategies. And we explored this opportunity to invest in our future leaders (currently living & studying in underprivileged environment) through Arts.
This was an idea about connecting privileged youth adults to the children and also the problems of our society. So that we can together come up with solutions that are beneficial for our country and also helps in inculcating a mindset of conscious awareness and making healthy and educated civilians. Because why not? Together we can Make our Pakistan Rise and Shine, InshaAllah. And with this campaign we came to know about how many schools are being run in slum areas of Pakistan and how amazing work they are doing for the better development and future of children living in such areas. What an amazing experience it was. We have worked with three schools so far, looking forward to work with more, as soon as this corona situation settle down.
Here I am sharing the video coverage of the events in 3 different schools, three different environments and status and resources and how we brought out the best possible solutions to inspire creativity and confidence in children.
You ask me why Fun with trash campaign is being done in schools? Well, because If we want to deal with a problem on larger scale, then make it a part of education system. So, children study about the problem and find solutions to deal with it. And the best way to involve students into a serious topic is through arts or play. Play means to engage in an activity for enjoyment & recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. At present moment, arts & play is just recreation but in long run, it will be stored in mind with various signals. That's the goal.
Creative exercises are must for an individual's brain to learn how to think. And once it starts thinking, the game changes! So, we are helping and empowering underprivileged schools in Lahore with these creative activities to learn how to think and embrace their individuality and change the game! InshaAllah.
We know that our education system is more about focusing on what others did (back in time), how they did (with little technology and much time), and how the times and culture were back then rather than how they are now (mostly). Real education comes with living the life. But our education system keeps people out of life for so long. One doesn't get enough time to think about life for real untill they are out of the system completely. How can such system educate or help our children for today and tomorrow?
Thus, Children need opportunities to look, listen & touch... So they can learn how to see, hear & feel. Inspire them to be curious. Because future belongs to the curious. Those who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it, & turn it inside out. Motivate them to focus on what can be created instead of focusing on what cannot be changed. .
Let's invest with our skills & learning in the future leaders of Pakistan.
Fall in love with serving Nature of Bees! Our team worked with students and reused various recyclable materials to create something new to uplift the space of Rukh Foundation and save the environment by avoiding usage of new materials. We internalised some important environmental lessons like "Importance of Bees for the survival of Life and Environment", "Benefits of Cycling on Environment and Health", and "Cons of Deforestation". We found that a daily visual reminder about details of Nature and Experiential Learning is significant at such young age.
Fall in love with Marine Life! Why we should protect our oceans? Healthy marine ecosystems are essential for human survival, wealth and well-being. The ocean is the Earth's biggest life support system, as the oxygen for every second we breathe comes from it. It also provides at least a sixth part of the animal protein humans eat. Therefore, save oceans for all of us and for future generations. This was our theme for 'Fun with Trash Campaign' in Beam School System to transform blue painted walls into a reminder for aquatic life, using waste materials.
Education is really aimed to help students get to the point where they can learn to grow on their own. Because that's gonna help for their life and not just to absorb materials given from outside and repeat it. Noam Chomsky says "WHAT MATTERS ISN'T WHAT YOU COVERED BUT WHAT YOU DISCOVERED." I hope the children have discovered something amazing and inspiring during this activity like we did!!!
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