Teaching Aids from Scrap

‘Creations 2002’ was creativity unleashed. On March 26th and 27th, KG teachers from seven schools of the Varkey group presented an exhibition of teaching aids for children at Our Own English High School, Sharjah. The exhibits, including every nut and bolt, were painstakingly put together entirely out of throwaway materials. What better use could these be put to than for educating the young?

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Primary school teachers from the participating institutions had let their imaginations run riot as they went on a rampage against waste. They had raided tailoring houses for scrap and trimmings; clothing stores for textile rolls; supermarkets for assorted rejects; and their own homes, of course, much to the consternation of other family members who suddenly found that they were unable to discard stuff unless it had been ‘sanctioned’ by the mistress of the house.

Participating schools – Our Own English High Schools in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Fujairah and Sharjah; Modern High School, Dubai; and Millennium School, Dubai – were allocated a room each to display their creations that incorporated teaching aids for Maths, English and General Knowledge. The exhibition was open to competition too, marks being allocated for the extent to which ‘throwaways’ had been used, their practicality, effectiveness and aesthetic appeal.

One could spend an entire day wandering from room to room examining the ingenious use of resources, marveling at the unbridled enthusiasm that had, undoubtedly, gone into developing the teaching aids. Mini Tripathi, supervisor, KG section of Our Own English High School, Sharjah, and initiator of ‘Creations 2001’ walks us through the exhibition, starting with her own school where an ‘alphabet express’ in brilliant hues chugs its way across a table. Each coach and its contents are devoted to a letter. Coach ‘C c,’ for instance, sports a car, carrot, clock and chick. And not to miss the materials used in crafting the train – old invitation cards, yogurt jar lids, waste packaging, egg shells, scrap foil, ribbons, felt and crepe paper, used matchsticks and straws!

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There is a duplex doll’s house (Our Own English High School, Abu Dhabi) – bed, dresser and bath on the first floor; living, dining and kitchen, on the ground. The interior is fully furnished; and outdoors stands a car. Another exhibit aims at developing listening skills - a series of potato wafer containers, each containing one of these items - twigs, pebbles, sand, seashells and walnut shells. Children would be expected to arrange these in the sequence of sound produced when shaken – low to loud.

We can see teachers sharing their experiences, even taking notes as they come across original concepts. “If all the Varkey group schools exchange ideas and implement this, they can make a big difference,” feels Mini. “Supermarkets and stationers won’t like it though!” she chuckles.

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, is employed to produce an selection of animals (Our Own English High School, Al Ain) from penguins and fish to snails, snakes and parrots in diverse habitats – the sea (blue and white plastic bags), a tree (bottle rings and egg shells), the soil (pistachio shells), an ice cap (white plastic)….

“I am reminded of a time when a guru would teach using materials that were provided in nature – twigs, pebbles, leaves and the like,” we overhear a teacher commenting as she examines the simplicity and usefulness of a cardboard tray where letters slide up and down to make words wh-y, wh-en, wh-at, wh-ere…th-e, th-is, th-at, th-ese….

At a shopping festival (Our Own English High School, Dubai) we walk by a cobbler via the jeweler to a cultural section (a puppet show is under way) and, then, a games corner with a tunnel through which children can walk, 9 pins and hoopla. We end up at a food court serving sandwiches (sponge), noodles (thread) and sausages (stale dough).

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An energy train - piles of fruit, veggies, cereals, meats (Millennium School, Dubai); a bear that demonstrates the five senses (Modern High School, Dubai) – eyes glowing (sight), waving a gloved paw (touch), tongue hanging out (taste), bulbous nose (smell) and ears blackened (sound); and a game (Our Own English High School, Fujairah) – throw a dice, count the score, follow the footsteps and pick up the object tallying with score…

There is a surfeit of innovative ideas. The ones we mention here are mere samples.

“The huge amounts of materials we use would strike me each time I signed requisition slips for chart paper, crepe and the rest. You can imagine the quantity, as we have 51 sections in KG 1 and 2. Although we keep reusing teaching aids, we continually discard those that wear out,” Mini tells us. “But from now on, our motto will be ‘Use waste. Don’t use money.’ I would like each class to make such aids. For some years we have been doing little things like using partitions from tea boxes to make bookmarks and reusing office circulars. But now we will expand the activities. To begin with we will habitually collect chart paper from all over the school, even that which is fraying at the edges. I must emphasise that none of this would have been possible without the unstinting support of our principal, Dr. Farooq Ahmad Wasil.”

Just for the record, the overall winners were the hosts, Our Own English High School, Sharjah followed by Our Own English High School, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in second and third positions. There were subject wise winners too.

Petra Mueller, an environmental consultant in Dubai, shares some tips on saving paper with Earthsense:
I have practiced the following methods at home and in office resulting in saving a lot of paper and expenses. Paper is required for office use. But there are so many areas where using fresh/new paper is not necessary.

For test printing, use the flip side of a used sheet.
For scribbling during telephone conversations, the flipside of used paper can be cut and made into scribble pads.
Recopying of a thermo paper fax should only be done if the content is important and needs to be kept for a longer period.
Before printing a word processing document, check the document for errors or changes.
For decorating or cleaning at home, don't use throwaway paper tissues; instead, use re-usable napkins.
For personal hygiene too, use re-usable napkins and towels.
Old newspapers and magazines should be collected together and handed over to a recycling collection centre nearby. Old newspapers can also be used for packing breakable and valuable things while relocating.

During the early learning days of children try to use a slate or reusable surface for practicing rather than wasting lots of good paper.

WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?

Hatim Rustom, manager, Canary – a shoe shop in Dubai, writes:

I save white sheets for my daughter who uses the reverse for scribbling and drawing. Empty shoeboxes make good storage containers for use at home. As far as newspapers are concerned, we share these. We buy one and then pass it on to our neighbours and friends after we have finished reading them. And if a newspaper contains references to the holy Quran, I will read it and place it in a bin for recycling, rather than put it to some other use.

April 2002

WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?