FOUR STATES, DIFFERENT CULTURES – ONE INDIA

Over 40 students from classes one to four attended the summer camp from April 10th to 24th at Lighthouse. The idea was to utilise the summer vacations and expose children of the machimaar community to four different states of India via a summer camp that was organised with the following objectives:

• To acquaint children with the states of India and their rich culture and heritage.
• To improve students’ English language skills (both spoken and written).
• To increase their general knowledge, especially about India.

APPROACH & ACTIVITY:

Children were first familiarised with the map of India and its 29 states. The four cardinal directions – North, outh, East & West – were also introduced to enable the children to understand/ describe the location of various states. Jigsaw puzzles, a treasure hunt based on directions, a game of bingo (Housie) on Indian states and map-drawing activities were organised to make learning enjoyable.

Finally, each of the four states – Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and West Bengal – was covered in detail. Children learnt about the food, dances, festivals, dressing, tourist attractions and famous personalities of each state through audio-visual aids.

Each student was assigned any one of four states/ groups and members of each group prepared colourful charts showcasing the culture of their chosen state. They even created the replica of a handicraft typical of their state.