Workshop by a psychologist on creative thinking during Library Week

On Monday, 30 October 2023, pupils of class VII attended a workshop organised by Goyal Brothers Publications. Dr Jyoti Handa psychologist, served as the session’s resource person. The workshop was held during the School Library Week.

Japant Singh Sethi, VII, commenced the workshop by introducing Dr Handa to the children. Dr Anu Singh, Vice Principal, followed our school tradition and presented Dr Handa with a token of appreciation.

Dr Handa began by displaying an image of the brain on the projector screen. She asked the pupils, “Of course you have a brain, but do you use it?” This question elicited numerous responses from students. Then she introduced the idea of the six thinking hats and how they aid in mind unlocking. She narrated a story about the famous scientist, Archimedes, to emphasise the concept of creative and parallel thinking. It entailed being productive, cooperating, coordinating, and having a unique perspective on things.

She began the game called the ‘Six Thinking Hats’ by instructing pupils to choose their favourite story book or character. She guided them to envision wearing hats on their heads. She began by telling students to turn their hats towards the colour white. White represented ‘Factual Thinking.’ She then instructed them to write a fact about the story or character of their choice. Next, she told the pupils to turn their hats towards the colour, red. This colour essentially portrays human emotions and instincts. She then asked the children to express or enact the feelings felt by the character in the narrative they had chosen.

Now, she directed the kids’ attention to the colour black. Black indicates difficulties and hardship. She asked the kids to pick a problem or set of problems that the character of their choice had faced. Next in line was turning their hats towards the colour yellow. Yellow represents optimism and the good features of a concept. She instructed the young students once more to construct a list of the positive features or lessons learned by the character in their choice of story. This was followed by the pupils turning their caps towards the colour green which represents growth. It denotes innovation and ingenuity. She instructed the kids to write an alternate ending to the narrative they chose. Finally, she directed the kids’ attention to the final colour, blue. Blue signifies calmness and the idea of pondering before acting or making decisions in life. She then asked the children to think about the best decision made by the character of their choice.

Finally, the speaker asked the children to narrate the story they had just constructed using the six colours. The kids came up with imaginative tales!

Everyone was captivated by the incredible thoughts generated by the six thinking hats. After this activity, Aisha Nayar of class VII offered a vote of thanks. It was an enthralling and unique experience for the kids!