Collecting the energies of children

Going back to the days when I first handled a group of children as a group facilitator. I can still recall the faces of twenty five little four year olds, as I entered the Class on the first day of the new term in the Nursery Class. A few of them were resplendent with energy and running all over the space, a few were clinging to their parents and some sat quietly on the stools. To get the day started I had to collect my little ones for the circle time. The challenge was to get them all on the mats and collect their energies. I began by sitting down on the mat and holding high an elephant puppet that I had with me......." This is Haathi and he is new to this group, he wants to make friends so would you all like to be friends with him?" Suddenly the eyes turned towards Haathi and some of the children wanted to sit close to him. Within the next few minutes most of the children were sitting on the mats except some who still preferred to sit on the stools at a distance. Yet they too were curious to know what would happen next. We began with Haathi introducing himself and sharing about what all he liked. Next, my team teacher and I introduced ourselves and what we liked. After this Haathi moved to each child in the group asking names and their likes. This was the beginning of bonding and relationships evolving.

After coming together as a group, we closed our eyes and chanted. This was followed by a story time and then children moved to explore different corners which had been created for them. I have always made efforts to think of different strategies to collect the energies of children. The best of lesson plans would fail if the energies of children are scattered and they are not receptive.

It is not easy to do so always, much of it depends on our understanding of the children, bonding with them and being alert at all times. Challenges with each age group are different. Sometimes in my Nursery and Kindergarten Classes I would build linkages between the ongoing themes and my strategies to collect the energies of my children. During a theme on "Birds", I would look at them and say " Can all the little birds fly and settle on the mats quietly" " Okay let me see how many birds are quick to fly and reach here" Soon I could see hands stretched out and my birds flying next to me.Some of the simplest strategies were to make certain gestures with hands and children would just look and follow, clapping in a pattern raising the tone of voice and bringing it down to a whisper.

Five years later my experiences with children of Class V were much different. To get their attention and collect their energies, I had to break down the instructions with clarity and a sense of purpose.At that age they need to be involved and engaged.