This month the educators did the long-awaited activity with the School-age 2 children. Since it was Diwali last month – the most celebrated festival in India, one of the educators applied henna on her palms. The children liked it and adored it so much that they expressed their interest of applying it on their palms as well. This sparked an idea of doing it as an activity for our group. We informed the parents about the activity and got their consent. The parents seemed excited too. They also loved the idea and were happy to give their consent.
The children were super thrilled to know that we were doing the Henna application activity in the coming days. We narrowed down a few designs and printed them so that the children could select which henna design they would like to apply on their hands. As soon as we removed the henna and the sample design papers from the cart, all the children came running to the table and requested if they could get it done first. We first selected the children who get picked up earlier to get their henna done prior so that they don’t miss out. Everyone got a turn to select from the sample designs before starting the application. The most interesting part was the conversations that they had on the table while selecting the henna design. They evaluated each design on the parameters of how big or small they were or which design would look good on which friend. One of the children also started picking out designs for other friends and suggested which design they should get. Once our first friend finished the design, everyone gathered around her to see how it turned out. Patience was needed as the children waited for the henna to dry. The parents were happy to see the henna designs. They also checked with the educators if any special care needs to be taken and what the next steps were. We also explained to the children about the way in which they can remove the henna after drying. They were so happy to get the henna done. We could definitely see it on their face. Next day they came and showed how deeper the colour had become. This activity continued for 5 days as we had many children who wanted henna on their palms. While waiting for their turn some of our friends took a paper, traced their hands and made their own henna designs, which displayed their sense of creativity and spatial awareness. The activity was overall a great hit and our friends enjoyed to the fullest.
