KhelvigyanA Project Developed by

Children Toy Foundation

UNO’s article 31 : “The Child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation,which should be directed to the same purposes as education; Society and public authorities

shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this right”

Toy Library – Khelvigyan background

The Foundation has been instrumental in helping and guiding to set up 240 toy libraries in 11States and 2 Union territories of the country as shown below where 240 x 100 = 24000 children benefit by way of play.

Maharashtra

Gujarat M.P.A.P.

West Bengal

Karnataka.

Kerala

Orissa

DelhiBihar

Rajasthan

Pondicherry

Andaman Nicobar

Khel Vigyan is an extension of the Toy Library Project conceived from the need to cater to more number of children and in a more effective manner. Now 1500 children benefit 4 times a month at just one place.

ObjectivesProject Objectives:  a.To impart all round learning to underprivileged children through alternate development tools such as Educational Toys, Games and Play activities.  b.To establish a model play learning center that acts as a complement to formal primary education and that, which is effective, economical & replicable in nature.

c. Specific development objectives include: 1.      Motor and cognitive skills development 2.      Behavioral and Social Skills development 3.      Enhancement of Cerebral/Mental Faculties 4.      Emotional, Confidence and Dignity/ Self-Esteem development d. To Create an effective Avenue for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Professionals to impart their skills.   e. To provide an environment that fosters love and care that often eludes children hailing from impoverished backgrounds.  

Methodology

 

•Target group – Underprivileged children 2 to 12 years 2 to 5 years to acquire knowledge and 5 to 12 years to to put the acquired knowledge to effective use. •Why Matunga – City Of Los Angeles Municipal School ? - It is near the largest slum in Asia – Dharavi - The school has a science museum.

• Integral Programme of the school.

Project Implementation

Permission from BMC, Education department.

Forming of the core committee. The following people were inducted in the panel. Dr. Ravikala Kamat – Principal, *S.N.D.T. Women’s Univ. Dr. Reeta Sonawat- Reader SNDT University Ms. Swati Popat- Director,* TASHA Dr. Rautela- Director, Nehru Science Center Ms. Neelaben Chapatwala – Director, Hello Nursery School Mrs. Geeta More- Co-ordinator-Edu. Dept. Municipal Schools Dr. Manilal Gada – Psychiatrist Mr. Puneet Gupta – A executive of a leading private bank in India. Interior design of toy library. Selection and procurement of toys, development of curriculum based activities and other programs by the committee. The Project was inaugarated by the then Municipal Commissioner Mr. Karun Srivastava and a chile prodigy – Junior Pan Patil, a snake charmer.

How Khelvigyan works•In the City of Los Angeles Municipal School, classes from Balwadi to Std IV

are taken from 10 am to 5 pm according to time table fixed in coordination with

school authorities. Perhaps this is the first time in any school such a facility

is made available by us.5 classes a day with an average of 50 children means

250 children a day and 1400-1500 children benefit in a week.

• Activities taken are indoor games where decision making is

important. Also there are corners for reading,maths and language.

•Teacher facilitates the activities and children groups rotate according

to interest

• Age appropriate activities are undertaken and child-centered approach is

stressed upon

• Outdoor fun games are a must part.

• Modern gadgets like computers and video games are also provided.

• Teachers are presently being trained to organise chess coaching keeping in

mind that in Moscow, game of chess is a compulsory subject in schools.

Innovative Features

Features of ‘Khel Vigyan:

Provides easy access to toys and games to the children from underprivileged sections of society Complements formal education streams and helps develop the child’s interest in pursuing further education

Student – Teacher ratio is about 10:1, which facilitates genuine attention and care

Stimulating environment. Even use of floor as stimulating medium.

Provides a constructive avenue for the channelization of a child’s energies

Group work and Group activities. Curriculum based quizzes,games and worksheets are made.

School provides a platform that helps for interaction with a variety of visitors.

Attractive/retention power of toys and games increases attendance levels, thereby offering promising potential to reduce primary school drop out levels.

Economically viable and sustainable model

Project in Action

1. Indoor

2. Drama

3. Outdoor

…Some more action

4. Drawing

5. Kraft

6. Balwadi Children enjoyingin the centre.

The Impact

Interpretation: Experimental group children clearly indicate an improvement in scholastic aptitude After intervention in 3 of the 4/5 disciplines. Further they results are higher than control group children. Experimental group children showed a decline in History/Geography perhaps due to the lack of exposure to Toys that enhance knowledge in the same. Control group children showed marginal declines in post intervention results.

30 2932

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38 3633

272830 31

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10

15

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Exp. Before

Exp. After

Ctrl. Before

Ctrl. After

Scholastic Achievement of Children in 5 Disciplines Before & After 8 week intervention:

Distribution of Toys and game preference among children [sample study]

Toys and Games Preferred by the children:

Type of toys/game No. of Children [635] Percentage

Action Toys and Games 147 22.51%

Educative Toys and Games 63 9.64%

Outdoor Games 123 18.83%

Puppets/T.V Show 98 15%

Creative Drawing 76 11.63%

Dice/Fun games 78 11.94%

Manipulative/Construction Games 68 10.41%

Interpretation: Wide variance by children for Toy and Game preference, indicating that a variety of ToysAnd games are required to capture the imagination and interest of children. In this particular study ActionToys and games & Outdoor Games lead the percentages.

Experimental Group teacher Perception Towards Toy Library as additional mode of education

TOYLIBRARY

Complements classroomenvironment

Children Showing greaterInterest in school

Dull / SlowChildren helped

AttendanceIncreases

Math / languageConcepts Improved

Improved Expression of speech

Punctuality in attendance Week Experimental Control

Average No.Of Average No. Of Children N = 149 Children N = 136 % %

1 43.4 40.742 35.23 35.193 46.55 38.344 50.94 40.125 54.72 43.26 59.57 46.27 78.62 45.688 83.96 57.099 81.2 82.35

10 84.56 86.0211 86.56 86.0212 87.24 79.4113 87.24 86.0214 87.24 84.5515 88.59 87.5

16 91.94 86.74

Reading & Writing Skillsat the end of 8 weeks

Reading/ Excellent Very Good Average Poor V.PoorWriting E C E C E C E C E CTasksListening 55 49.2 24.8 41.9 17.4 28 2.6 3.6 "- -SkillsRecognition 36.2 20.1 34.8 44.1 18.1 19 11 13 "- 29SkillsCompre- 33.5 22 28.1 22 21.4 26 11 13 6.7 13.2hensionFluency 36.2 20.5 29.9 19.1 18.1 24 11 21 5.36 16.1Expression 23.4 2.9 26.8 16.1 36.2 22 6.7 33 6.7 25.7Of IdeasVocabulary 23.4 4.4 28.1 18.3 26.8 29 11 22 11.4 25.7Spelling 21.4 8 32.2 5.8 22.8 35 11 24 13.4 27.9

E = Experimental Group C = Control Group

Maths Skills(after 8 weeks)

Maths Excellent V.Good Average Poor V.Poor Tasks E C E C E C E C E C Add-

Ition

38.9 16.1 28.1 16.5 18.7 35.2 4.0 19.8 10.6 11.7

Sub-

Traction

34.8 16.9 26.8 16.9 23.4 33.3 8.0 18.1 6.7 12.7

Multi-

plication

28.1 15.4 24.8 11.02 21.4 33.08 15.4 24.8 10.06 13.2

Division 26.8 14.7 20.8 12.5 24.1 30.1 16.1 25.0 12.0 17.6

Greater/

LessThan

41.6 23.5 36.9 30.8 20.1 19.8 1.3 11.7 - 13.9

Fraction 26.8 12.5 23.4 18.3 29.5 33.8 13.4 11.02 6.7 24.2

Time 40.2 21.3 34.8 10.06 15.4 10.06 15.4 4.6 - 18.3

E = Experimental Group C = Control Group

Perception of Co-relationof Developmental Areas

Physical

Devpt.Score

1.000 0.452** 0.364* 0.396** 0.291*

Social

Devpt Score

0.452** 1.000 0.462** 0.122 0.100

Emotional

Devpt Score

0.364* 0.462** 1.000 0.269* 0.126

Cognitive

Devpt Score

0.396** 0.122 0.269* 1.000 0.437**

Language

Devpt Score

0.291* 0.100 0.126 0.437** 1.000

Phy. Social Emo. Cognitive Language Devpt. Devpt. Devpt Devpt Devpt

** . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level ( 1- tailed)

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (1 – tailed)

Sustainability

The Program is popular and interest of children is for sure.

The project can be replicated in any school by curtailing5 minutes of every period and thus saving 5 x 7 x 5 days =175 minutes for a toy library period.

• Posha Nakhava Municipal School,Versova - cost of Rs.50000 and monthly expense Rs.4500/- (2 teachers). • Khelvigyan Centre,Matunga Rs. 13500/- per month. (5 teachers)

Educationalists,Donors and others concerned should be made aware of this concept.

The Lessons

• Toys, Games and Play activities are a powerful tool to develop underprivileged children.

• The implementation of ‘Khel Vigyan’ has the promising potential to reduce the primary school drop out rates across the country.

• The greater the training imparted to teachers greater would be the effectiveness of the program.

• Teachers are the backbone of the programs: their attention and care dictates the effectiveness of ‘Khel Vigyan’. Consequently providing the right incentives to them is a key factor.

• Variety and replenishment of Toys are required to sustain the interest and development of the child.

• Innovative education kits developed by ECCE students could be introduced in our Play centers ‘Khel Vigyan’ (*ECCE – Early Child Care Education).

• Expressiveness of children exposed to “Khel Vigyan’s” is a visible improvement.

• There is a scope to improve monitoring methods by introducing more creative qualitative and quantitative measures. This further helps attract more donors/sponsors.

The Lessons contd..

•Teachers often have to walk a fine balance between discipline and care.

• Introducing more vocational play elements such as carpentry, clay modeling and puppetry etc. that can make them better professionals in the future.

• Harnessing the diverse & collective strengths of our implementation committee is a challenging proposition.

CLASS(IC) JUMP….

• ‘HAPPY CHILD NATION’S PRIDE’ (SLOGAN-1979 CHILDREN YEAR)

• Children at KHELVIGYAN

HAVE A CLASS(IC) JUMP.

Compiled for Mr. Devendra Desai with help from Arjun Balakrishnan & Priyesh DesaiSpecial thanks to Mrs. Meeta Goyal, Ms Rajas Sardesai and Mrs. Reeta SonawatPowerPoint Presentation: Padmesh Prabhune, Dhruv Communications, Mumbai.

THANK YOU