By Pooja Saiya | Project Leader
Key Updates from July 2024 to September 2024:
The second ‘Playworkers Unnati Workshop Series’ round was conducted for Toybank’s programme outreach team in September. The objective was to refresh their learnings from the last training, discuss their field experience, exchange notes on successful delivery of play sessions and preparations for upcoming months. The outreach team also went through communication and volunteer engagement training sessions, where they were trained on documentation of their on-field work through pictures and stories.
Play is the primary way in which children explore a world that is not in their control. Toybank — Development through Play’s Play2Learn centres are safe spaces for children to explore and engage in developmentally-appropriate play sessions. The play sessions are an hour-long session that start with energisers, fun and movement-based activities and are aimed at starting the session on a joyful note. This is followed by children engaging in carefully-curated and strategically chosen games and play-based materials. Our Programme team members and Play Centre Facilitators (PCFs) support children to understand the games, learn through them, work in groups, help them think independently and more. The play session ends with another energiser, in addition to children sharing what they liked the most about the day’s play session and what they learned. These play sessions are conducted with children between 3 to 13 years at government-aided and government schools, private schools, community centres and childcare institutions.
From July 24’ to September 24’, the Programme team members and PCFs conducted 6,164 Play2Learn Sessions across Maharashtra.
On-ground training sessions were conducted with the school teachers (PCFs) to make them aware and knowledgeable on play-based learning and re-orient them on Toybank's play programme. These training sessions help them understand the impact of developmentally appropriate play on the childhood to adulthood outcomes in children. They are trained on new games and how to effectively use them in classrooms, as part of their daily teaching, in order to build a healthy and stronger student-teacher bond.
Our Programme Team conducted 13 ‘Power of Play’ workshops training 415 Play Centre Facilitators of Maharashtra during this period.
The programme outreach team conducts stock and quality checks at Toybank’s Play centres and initiates the process of restocking the games and play material at the centres. These games are categorized as per age groups: Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary and as per the six categories of games in the Toybank Play2Learn Programme, i.e. SPBANG: Strategy, Puzzle, Blocks, Alphabetics, Numerics and General. The team ensures that children have access to not just age-appropriate and category-wise games, but also that these games are in good condition. This also allows the PCFs and programme outreach team to conduct play2learn sessions smoothly. During this quarter 5,303 Games across 107 play centres were replaced.
Story of Change:
Rishi (name changed) studies in Class 2 at the Zilla Parishad Primary School in Maharashtra’s Latur district. He lives with his three sisters, and parents, who work as daily wage labourers. His parents dream of him growing up to be an engineer.
Rishi is a bright and intelligent student. He loves all forms of play, especially playing the games provided in play sessions. His favourite though is Super Architect, as it allows him to construct new things and go beyond his imagination. He first started assembling blocks and creating easy things such as small buildings, different shapes etc.
As he started playing with the game often, he used his imagination and came up with different constructions such as a car and a house. Here, he did not restrict his thinking to what he sees around, but used his imagination and told the programme officer that the house he had built could fly, and when he became an engineer, he would build a similar house.
The programme officers have observed Rishi become empathetic towards his peers when playing in groups, help others solve queries or contribute to their ideas and work together. Games such as Super Architect help children build skills of creativity, problem-solving, spatial awareness and also develop their fine motor skills.
- Story by ZP Primary School Samthana Taluka Renapur, Latur, Play Centre LA.235.
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