Christmas, New Year, and Winter Holidays! As parents, you must be planning all the explorations with children to make their time fun and memorable. Read this blog to know how to make all activities (within and outside your home) a better experience. At Ginny’s Planet, we believe that the most impactful way for children to experience empathy, diversity, and inclusion is by watching these values in action. As parents, every choice you make—whether it’s exploring our activity zones, picking up a storybook featuring diverse characters, or engaging respectfully with others—becomes a learning moment for your child. When they see you modeling empathy, embracing differences, and celebrating inclusivity, they naturally internalize these values.
Let’s build a world where being different is okay, one small action at a time. Read further to learn about small actions that you can demonstrate while exploring workshops and activity zones with Ginny’s Planet’s Team.
Also, Join Kids Zone on 7-8 Dec 2024
Step 1:Notice how a workshop or Activity zone is being run for children
If you are at Ginny’s Planet event or our collaborative zone for children with Taabur, you will notice the following at each activity desk:
- Every grownup entering the Kids Zone abides by our child protection policy. Our teams are trained for this. We will orient those entering the Kids Zone about the same.
- A limited number of children engaged at a time: Overcrowding is not encouraged as it impacts a child’s experience during the activity.
- Sharing of resources: As each child creates their own thing, they use common material available to all other children.
- Probably a batch of children completing their tasks: If there are 2-3 children who come at the same time, we often wait for the batch to get over when the new group starts. The team member leading the activity makes several decisions according to the pace of the children and the stage of the activity.
- Sometimes a waiting period: This may be to prevent overcrowding or to help the previous batch complete their task.
- Plan for a child to do the activity only once & with a specific activity: The ticket/pass for each child includes the relevant amount of material per activity. Each child showcases their creativity differently. However, each child is also encouraged to use the resources within specific limits.
- Encouragement to use any color for different things: Sky, Hair, Eyes, Bees, Trees- all can be of different hues in Ginny’s World. We don’t fix these for children.
- A short break time for the team members during the activities. This is to help team members stay focused and energetic. This would be 5-10 minutes max for each desk at any time and taken only when a batch is over.
Step 2: What to say and do while child is in the activity zone
Here is what you can do to help children experience the activity zones. This is especially true of you are coming to Ginny’s Planet. Aligned with our values of empathy, diversity, and inclusion, here is what we recommend.
- Set the Right Tone for Exploration
- What to Do: Encourage your child to explore the activities with curiosity. Say, “Let’s see what we can learn and create today!”
- What Not to Do: Avoid pressuring your child to be “perfect” in their creations. Don’t say, “You have to make it look exactly like this.”
- Model Open-Mindedness
- What to Do: Talk about how differences make the world more interesting. For example, “Isn’t it amazing how everyone has their own way of thinking and creating?”
- What Not to Do: Avoid comparisons like, “Why didn’t you do it like that other child?”
- Promote Empathy Through Conversations
- What to Do: Ask your child reflective questions like, “What did you learn about Ginny? How do you think she feels doing (add your thought)?”
- What Not to Do: Avoid dismissing their thoughts or saying, “That’s not important, just move to the next thing.”
- Encourage Independence
- What to Do: Let your child make their own choices during the activities. Say, “You can decide how you want to design this—it’s your creation!”
- What Not to Do: Avoid micromanaging with instructions like, “No, do it this way instead.”
- 5. Reinforce Acceptance of Imperfections
- What to Do:Celebrate effort and creativity. Say, “I love how unique your work is!”
- What Not to Do:Avoid pointing out flaws. Don’t say, “You missed coloring that part.”
- 6. Foster a Growth Mindset
- What to Do:Praise efforts with statements like, “Look how hard you worked on this!”
- What Not to Do:Avoid labeling abilities with statements like, “You’re just not good at this. OR you won’t be able to do this.”
- 7. Discuss Differences Openly
- What to Do:Normalize differences by saying, “Ginny uses a brace, and some people use glasses—everyone has something unique about them.”
- What Not to Do:Avoid making differences seem unusual or pitying, such as, “Poor Ginny, she has so many challenges.”
- 8. Encourage Reflection Post-Activity
- What to Do:Ask questions like, “What did you learn about yourself or others today?”
- What Not to Do:Don’t focus solely on the product of the activity, such as, “What did you make? That’s all that matters.”
- 9. Respect Individual Choices
- What to Do:Allow children to make choices that reflect their preferences. Say, “You can choose whichever color or design.”
- What Not to Do:Avoid comments like, “That’s not how most boys/girls do it.” or “Use black for eye color and light peach for skin color.”
- 10. Challenge Gender Stereotypes
- What to Do:Encourage children to explore all activities without assigning roles or preferences based on gender. Say, “Anyone can enjoy art, building, doll making!”
- What Not to Do:Avoid gendered assumptions like, “Girls will like this craft activity. But what about boys?”
- 11. Promote equal participation instead of privilege and conflict
- What to Do:Ensure your language is polite and show patience if the child has to wait. Say, “Let’s wait for our turn. Then you would also get undivided attention to enjoy this.”
- What Not to Do:
Avoid comments like,
“This is more for boys/girls,”
“Why can’t my child start in the middle of the batch”
“Why can’t the child take as many decorations as they want! I have paid for it?”
“Why is there Ginny everywhere? I don’t want my child to know Ginny! Let the child just do the activity without any conversation.”
A few more things if you also plan to use the Sensory Play Area for young ones:
- A grownup should accompany children between 2-4 years olds in the sensory play area.
- If guardians of children want to click their photos and videos in the Kids zone: This is welcome! However, do refrain from clicking photos of other children.
- No eatables should be carried into the Kids Zone, except by the guardian of children below 4.
About Ginny’s Planet
Ginny’s Planet is building a world where Being Different Is Okay! Led by Dr. Shweta Verma, this social enterprise builds products, workshops, and events to help children imbibe & experience empathy, diversity, and inclusion. Ginny is the protagonist in our storybooks and workshops with young ones. Our stories take the conversation on disability and diversity beyond the idea of ‘suffering’, ‘ special ’, or ‘inspirational’. Ginny’s stories help children view everyone as somewhat like and somewhat different from them. Workshops or activities led by Ginny’s Planet team help children explore other ideas, make diverse choices, challenge biases, and accept imperfections. Empathy and children’s rights remain at the core of all conversations and experiences.
Watch this short video to know why we do what we do: https://youtu.be/haStH0Ascn0
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