PBL: A Book About Me! Day 3

Date: 5th August 2022; Friday.
Facilitators: Auindrilla, Sonai, Sanmoyee, Anupriya and Nikita.
Participants: Ayansh, Maryam, Meher, Nitara, Rishit, Shannaya, Sharlav, Shivanshika, Shivanya, Viaan, Yuvaan (Bhopalka), and Yuvaan (Mehra).
Tags: understanding the self, art, self-expression, PBL.

Welcome to Day 3 of our newest PBL series! Our Arthlings are in the process of exploring themselves, beginning from the outside-in! On Day 2, they acquainted themselves with the shape of their bodies, by posing for a life-sized portrait! Our facilitators helped trace each Arthling's outline on a brown canvas, after which they added features with a variety of materials!

For Day 3, join our our Arthlings as they become fashion designers for their body doubles, and try to measure their bodies in different ways!

PLANNING AND SETUP

The activity was divided into the following steps:

Designing My Outfit: Trays of sample fabric and glue were kept ready for the children to stick on their outlines. Crystal and dot stickers were provided for further detailing.
Measuring My Height and Weight: Coloured chalk and blocks were kept as options for height measurement. Two weighing machines were kept ready to measure weight.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Sonai Didi started the class with a fun game — Colourman! Colourman, which colour do you choose? First Sonai Didi shouted out a colour. Then the whole class raced to find the colour in the classroom and touch it! Most of the colours were on the Arthlings' own clothes! The Arthlings found pink, yellow, green and lots of other colours on each other's clothing!

Step 1: When reintroduced to their canvases from Day 2, the children were quick to recognize their own outlines! Soon enough, everyone was in design mode!
Each Arthling picked fabric according to their own preference. Maryam chose dark green, Shivanshika chose pink and Meher decided to go with black! They each used glue to stick the fabric inside the outline, and hammered on it to make sure it would stick. Yuvaan (Bhopalka) and Yuvaan (Mehra) each decided to make a shirt for their outlines. With Sonai Didi's help, they used the fabric to cover the outline's torso!

The Arthlings found that stickers were a versatile design tool! Yuvaan (Bhopalka) stuck strips of dot stickers down the middle of his 'shirt'. Sonai Didi asked him if they resembled something familiar — to which Yuvaan (Bhopalka) replied that they were buttons! Meanwhile, Maryam used the same dot stickers to make her outline a bracelet! Meher used them to make a necklace, and said that she wanted to show it to her mother!

Step 2: Next, the Arthlings ran to the play area! There they found two very interesting machines to measure something called ‘weight’! They each took turns getting up on the machine. Rishit wanted to compare his weight with Nitara, so he instructed her to get up on one machine while he got on the other!
Anupriya Didi was also measuring something: ‘height’! One by one, the Arthlings came and stood against the central pillar in the classroom where she marked the top of their head with a piece of chalk. The Arthlings could then see how tall they were!

OUTCOME AND FUTURE

This instalment encouraged our Arthlings to further appreciate various aspects of their outer selves. This class also introduced the idea of measurement, and how it can be applied to our very own bodies! One of the goals of PBL is to thus introduce various learning concepts through the medium of the child’s interests.
As we conclude our exploration of the outside, this PBL series will carry forward further investigation into the inside of the self! Stay tuned for more!

PBL: A Book About Me! Day 3

PLANNING AND SETUP

HOW IT HAPPENED

OUTCOME AND FUTURE

arth