Eco excursion for class V

Nature is the greatest source of learning and inspires everyone around to make for a better and harmonious world. It teaches about life, agriculture, the food chain and ecological besides much more.

83 students of class V accompanied by 8 teachers went on a trip to the School eco park on 20th January, 2018.

The bus journey was filled with singing and merry chatter. The lush fields and the sights of village folk going about their lives on either side of the bus, was a sight so uncommon for our city raised children.

Soon we were at our destination and our young ecologists squealed in delight at the sight of row after row of fresh farm produce- brinjals, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, beetroot, radish, sweet potato, mint and coriander!

Many activities were planned for the children to make for a fun filled learning experience. Children were divided in groups of 10 and were given options to choose the activities they wanted. These included art, theatre, and storytelling, learning about plants and animals and rustic games.

Nature is a great teacher of art. It lends itself to developing observation skills, an aesthetic sense and a connect with our natural habitat. The students were guided with sketching skills including drawing contour lines, shading, proportions and composition. The students selected their own object of inspiration from nature and each, armed with a pencil, carried creativity to paper.

The children were guided through the park and were prompted to try a hand at picking the ready vegetables to carry back home.

The farm animals like the rooster, geese and rabbits greatly amused the young visitors who spent time watching them and even petting them. They learnt the names of several new trees and plants.

The drama lesson demonstrated the use of ones physical features as a medium of expression without using words. The children also learnt the different ways of voice modulation.

Modern children such as these, who usually tend to prefer staying glued to the television, I-pads and X boxes at home, were seen thoroughly involved in timeless outdoor games such as hopscotch, the dog and the bone, seven stones etc.

After an exhausting stint with the games, the group was ushered to do some light yoga and an introduction to meditation. Last but not the least, the children settled down for a session of story telling. They listened intently before enacting their favourite characters from the story.

Each one seemed to be so engaged in the idyllic setting that we almost lost our sense of time! Alas it was soon time to leave and reluctantly the children packed up, albeit upon a promise of return.

Ms. Vandana Tewari.