PBL: Christmas Carnival — Day 1

Date: 5th December 2022; Monday.
Facilitators:
Auindrilla, Drishti, Sanmoyee, Sonai, Priyanka, and Apala.
Participants:
Adrived, Arya, Dhriya, Divit, Hazzel, Meher, Nitara, Parth, Rishit, Shannaya, Shivansh, Shivanshika, Shivanyaa, Taanush, Vaanya, and Yuvaan (Mehra).
Tags: art, craft, christmas, festival, pbl

Welcome to winter… and yet another project full of learning at Arth Hours! As we usher in the Christmas season, the team at Arth Hours got to thinking — how can we share the essence of Christmas with our children? This heralded the start of an ambitious PBL unit called ‘Christmas Carnival’! In this project, Arthlings will be introduced to this winter festival and will explore different symbols of Christmas by making Christmas arts and crafts. The two-week project will culminate in a Christmas Carnival, where they will sell these goodies to collect for charity.
Read on to know what happened on Day 1!

PLANNING AND SETUP

The activity was divided into the following steps:

1. Making Christmas Stars: Popsicle sticks were sorted by colour and arranged in trays. Glue and star-shaped stickers were provided for use. Sample stars were kept ready for demonstration.

2. The Story of Christmas: A movie about the origins of Christmas, called ‘The Greatest Journey’, was selected for the children. A laptop was set up for use along with the projector and projection screen.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The class began with a movement opening, which narrated the story of Christmas. The children accompanied Mother Mary, Father Joseph, and some donkeys to Bethlehem. There they gave their love to Baby Jesus in a stable!

The children, led by Mother Mary, Father Joseph, and an angel!

Making Christmas Stars: The children sat at their tables and were greeted by popsicle sticks in six different colours! With the help of an example, the educators demonstrated how to create a Christmas star with two popsicle triangles. Each child picked six sticks for their own star; while some chose sticks of the same colour, others decided to mix and match! The Arthlings assembled their sticks and added glue to stick them together. Then it was time to decorate with stickers!

The children choose which colour they will use.

Taanush uses orange popsicle sticks to make a triangle.

Nitara’s triangles are stuck together with glue!

Yuvaan (Mehra) adds another yellow popsicle stick.

Yuvaan (Mehra) decorates with stickers!

Sonai Didi demonstrates how to make a star.

Divit and Dhriya make their triangles.

Sonai Didi helps Shivansh with his glue!

Meher, Dhriya, Adrived, and Divit select stickers to decorate with.

Arya lays her finished star on the pile.

The Story of Christmas: The Arthlings assembled in front of the projection screen for Movie Time! They watched a movie called ‘The Greatest Journey’, which followed the journeys of Mother Mary and Father Joseph, the three wise kings, and the shepherds to Bethlehem. When the movie ended, the Arthlings blew kisses to Baby Jesus!

Shivansh waits while the movie is set up.

The children watch the movie with attention.

The three wise kings pictured in the movie.

The class blows kisses to Baby Jesus!

SKILLS USED

  • Focus and attention

  • Fine motor skills

  • Turn-taking

OUTCOME AND FUTURE

The Arthlings have finished creating their first craft for the Christmas Carnival! Join us in the next episode, when they will learn how to create Christmas hats and greeting cards!