Last year, while we were at her grandparents’, we had a surprisingly long long power outage. On enquiring, we were told that it was due to a fire in the neighbourhood. Until then, the only fire that V was used to was the one that helps us cook food and the one that lights our diyas. This was something new and no wonder she found it fascinating.

She made us relate the whole incident from the moment the fire broke out until it was contained. So much so that it became her favourite bed time story, and we had to narrate it atleast 3-5 times a day. I have never given any thought to fire trucks and fighters and this was a great opportunity for me to learn with her.

Community helpers

The fact that anybody could call the fire station when needed, and they would rush to help was new and a wonderful introduction to community helpers and occupations.… Click to read the rest

We took V to the Mumbai zoo to see some penguins when she was a little older than a year, and ever since, her biggest dream is to grow up, become a king, travel to Antarctica and play with penguins. Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. When she wanted to see penguins everywhere, we had to open the atlas, show her where penguins are found.

She still couldn’t get why we could not bring them here. Enter lesson on habitats and polar climates. We did a lot of ice sensory play when she was younger to reinforce the stark difference between the hot city we live in and cold climates. Bonus- we also learnt through simple experimentation that if salt is added to ice- the ice gets colder.

The fact that penguins are not naturally found here, only hardened her resolve to visit Antarctica and learn more about them through books and play.… Click to read the rest

V has always been fascinated with animals since she was an infant, and at about 18 months she loved visiting zoos and seeing animal pictures. At some point of time, she realized she couldn’t see a ‘real’ dinosaur anywhere and that bummed her. And that is when her dinosaur-obsession began.

She had some dinosaur figurines, but she had to imagine exactly how big they were. Thanks to some wonderful books, the size difference between dinosaurs and other regular wild animals was understood. She also learnt about the different types of dinosaurs, their food preferences, temperaments, etc. Frankly, this was a little annoying for me, because I do not care about dinosaurs at all. But when a child becomes interested in a topic like this, they can’t just be receivers of knowledge. They need to actively pursue it to understand it. This in turn, also helps them process information better, and leads to better attention spans.… Click to read the rest