Last week,my younger brother attended a workshop on plantation. Though mostly I prefer self learning but this workshop was a good experience.
Since years, I couldn't get the chance to plant something probably because we lived in an apartment so I wasn't much motivated and honestly didn't even give it a try.
But this year,I finally added this in my "new year resolutions" to plant something and plant as much as "325" plants.
Now resolutions are something important to me.So from January,I was looking for plantation drives or purchasing plants but nothing worked.Until last weekend,when I finally registered my younger brother for the workshop.The learning from this experience was more than my expectations.
The venue was a daycare. A beautiful,quiet space made to accommodate kids needs. Therefore it was well facilitated with swings,games etc. and creatively decorated with beautiful quotes and patterns.(Heaven for an observant introvert who seeks peace).Me and my brother both admired it differently.There was a small lawn too with different species of plants where actually the workshop took place.
First step was story telling. We could recall a lot of terms and process we read in his science book.It was a small group setting and some children were as small as 3 years old.I loved their curiosity and intriguing questions.
Second step was pot painting.Since he only does this activity once in a while in his school,this was a good chance to try his hands on acrylic paint with whatever pattern he choses for his pot.
Third step was mixing compost and sand and adding them to respective pots.I liked this step,since kids prepared their pots by themselves and could touch and feel the sand.
Finally they added water and sowed seeds.The setting was done in a way that guardians and parents could observe the whole process with kids.
What I loved most was that kids took the ownership of their pots.My brother (Fahim) was pretty excited and curious on the way back asking what will happen next,how will the seed turn into plant and a long list of such questions.
Though I wasn't sure if the plant would grow in such a little sunlight.
But to my surprise,only a day after,we witnessed those tiny sprouts in the pot.Finally!!!
My happiness to this was unexplainable. I always wanted to plant something on my own and it was a dream come true. Alhmdulillah for these little blessings.
I could recall these ayahs from Surah Abasa:
(فَلۡیَنظُرِ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنُ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِهِۦۤ أَنَّا صَبَبۡنَا ٱلۡمَاۤءَ صَبࣰّا ثُمَّ شَقَقۡنَا ٱلۡأَرۡضَ شَقࣰّا فَأَنۢبَتۡنَا فِیهَا حَبࣰّا وَعِنَبࣰا وَقَضۡبࣰا وَزَیۡتُونࣰا وَنَخۡلࣰا وَحَدَاۤىِٕقَ غُلۡبࣰا وَفَـٰكِهَةࣰ وَأَبࣰّا مَّتَـٰعࣰا لَّكُمۡ وَلِأَنۡعَـٰمِكُمۡ)
[Surat 'Abasa 24 - 32]
Fahim's excitement grew.We gave extra attention to those tiny seedlings.And I realized I was as excited as Fahim was.Several times a day we observed their size and growth.We checked if they have sufficient water and sunlight.Now the seedlings are gradually turning into a small plant.
Reflecting on this whole experience what I realized is that connecting to nature has its own merits.What we learn from nature cannot be learnt from books and other resources.Nature teaches us a variety of things.We would never knew how those parts of plants would actually look like until we observed it.The growth pattern of plants couldn't be learnt from a book,videos etc. in the same manner.The feelings of gratitude and happiness when the sprouts first appeared and when they turned into tiny seedlings were invaluable.This was a good initiative to reduce Fahim's screentime also.
In this fast paced life today,we need more such activities where we (and children) can connect with nature and enjoy these little blessings.
Now we are looking forward to get more plants and Fahim is pretty excited to get some books on plantation so we can get some deeper understanding of the whole process.
Here are some of the pictures of seedlings and painted pots:
Since years, I couldn't get the chance to plant something probably because we lived in an apartment so I wasn't much motivated and honestly didn't even give it a try.
But this year,I finally added this in my "new year resolutions" to plant something and plant as much as "325" plants.
Now resolutions are something important to me.So from January,I was looking for plantation drives or purchasing plants but nothing worked.Until last weekend,when I finally registered my younger brother for the workshop.The learning from this experience was more than my expectations.
The venue was a daycare. A beautiful,quiet space made to accommodate kids needs. Therefore it was well facilitated with swings,games etc. and creatively decorated with beautiful quotes and patterns.(Heaven for an observant introvert who seeks peace).Me and my brother both admired it differently.There was a small lawn too with different species of plants where actually the workshop took place.
First step was story telling. We could recall a lot of terms and process we read in his science book.It was a small group setting and some children were as small as 3 years old.I loved their curiosity and intriguing questions.
Second step was pot painting.Since he only does this activity once in a while in his school,this was a good chance to try his hands on acrylic paint with whatever pattern he choses for his pot.
Third step was mixing compost and sand and adding them to respective pots.I liked this step,since kids prepared their pots by themselves and could touch and feel the sand.
Finally they added water and sowed seeds.The setting was done in a way that guardians and parents could observe the whole process with kids.
What I loved most was that kids took the ownership of their pots.My brother (Fahim) was pretty excited and curious on the way back asking what will happen next,how will the seed turn into plant and a long list of such questions.
Though I wasn't sure if the plant would grow in such a little sunlight.
But to my surprise,only a day after,we witnessed those tiny sprouts in the pot.Finally!!!
My happiness to this was unexplainable. I always wanted to plant something on my own and it was a dream come true. Alhmdulillah for these little blessings.
I could recall these ayahs from Surah Abasa:
(فَلۡیَنظُرِ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنُ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِهِۦۤ أَنَّا صَبَبۡنَا ٱلۡمَاۤءَ صَبࣰّا ثُمَّ شَقَقۡنَا ٱلۡأَرۡضَ شَقࣰّا فَأَنۢبَتۡنَا فِیهَا حَبࣰّا وَعِنَبࣰا وَقَضۡبࣰا وَزَیۡتُونࣰا وَنَخۡلࣰا وَحَدَاۤىِٕقَ غُلۡبࣰا وَفَـٰكِهَةࣰ وَأَبࣰّا مَّتَـٰعࣰا لَّكُمۡ وَلِأَنۡعَـٰمِكُمۡ)
[Surat 'Abasa 24 - 32]
Fahim's excitement grew.We gave extra attention to those tiny seedlings.And I realized I was as excited as Fahim was.Several times a day we observed their size and growth.We checked if they have sufficient water and sunlight.Now the seedlings are gradually turning into a small plant.
Reflecting on this whole experience what I realized is that connecting to nature has its own merits.What we learn from nature cannot be learnt from books and other resources.Nature teaches us a variety of things.We would never knew how those parts of plants would actually look like until we observed it.The growth pattern of plants couldn't be learnt from a book,videos etc. in the same manner.The feelings of gratitude and happiness when the sprouts first appeared and when they turned into tiny seedlings were invaluable.This was a good initiative to reduce Fahim's screentime also.
In this fast paced life today,we need more such activities where we (and children) can connect with nature and enjoy these little blessings.
Now we are looking forward to get more plants and Fahim is pretty excited to get some books on plantation so we can get some deeper understanding of the whole process.
Here are some of the pictures of seedlings and painted pots:
