The First Workshop with The Heritage Lab by Tarannum Caur

The first memory that I have of a museum visit is the one when my father took me to the International Dolls Museum, New Delhi. It was the day when my little hands rested upon the glass surfaces, my frantic mind observed the decades old figures and my eyes fixed upon the windows that invited my senses to a whole new world. It was the day when I stepped outside the virtuality and limit offered by the texts. It was the day when I wanted to learn and discover more. 

The visits outside the school campus are always our favorite memories of the childhood days and, if these outings are combined with the practical ways of teaching and learning, no student will ever look for an excuse to miss a single day of school.
The same objective of reviving the importance of practical knowledge and awakening the young minds with the study of past is now the work tool of The Heritage Lab. It’s an organisation that aims to create and adress amateur and expert interest in the areas of archaeology, history, art and architecture and cultural practices. It is an initiative to engage various sections of society - students, teachers and enthusiasts, in different innovative activities to stimulate interest, awareness and intervention.
I came to know about The Heritage Lab a few weeks ago, through a random message on a Whatsapp group. The first word that grabbed my attention was ‘History’ and the only thought that striked me was that I wish to contribute as much as I can by working as a facilitator. My friend Athira and I, sent an e-mail to The Heritage Lab and later met Medhavi Gandhi, the founder, as well. She explained us about the various ways that may allow us to build a bridge between the schools and the museums. The whole concept of interlinking a subject to better ways of interested us the most.
Within a week of being familiar with it, we decided to do our first workshop as facilitators with the Grade 3 students of Vivek High School, Chandigarh. Even though it was a three days workshop, we had to assist her only on the second day, that involved a visit to the Natural History Museum, Chandigarh. The segment of learning that had to be focused upon dealt with the study of animals and birds, the history of dinosaurs and process of formation of fossils. The topics were exciting and interesting, not only for the kids but for us as well.
On the day  of workshop, Medhavi, Athira and I reached the museum by 9:30 am. We discussed about the division of students into different slots, with each slot working upon a single activity at a time. We took a walk in the park nearby the museum building which had to be covered while letting the students know about the different kinds of animals and birds. We came across a few short trees, covered by a number of finely constructed nests. To our surprise, they were home to the weaver ants and were built by stitching the leaves together with silk. We were astonished by the art of weaving and knitting that exhibited in those nests.
The school bus arrived by 10 am bringing in the excited young spirits along. We were introduced to the teachers and the students and were asked to distribute the worksheets at first. Later on, Athira took in charge of Section A students, allowing them to visit the park and Medhavi and I, took the Section D students inside the museum. The hyper active kids started jumping even at the idea of going through the Dinosaur section. The first slot visited the park, observed the various animals and birds that inhabited that place, and gathered as much evidences as they could of the same. They also visited the section covering the numerous kinds of birds, letting them know about their characteristics. Different kinds of beaks was the main topic of study. Meanwhile, the second slot went through the dinosaur section, covering the process of formation of fossils as well. The enthusiastic minds showed as much interest in listening to the minute details as we did, informing them the same. We were not left free by any student for a single minute as the number of questions that were being put up kept increasing the time that needed to be spent with each slot. The students were asked to observe the objects, to widen their imagination and to do the worksheets inside the museum. The slots were swapped later and were made to do what the previous batch had completed. The workshop came to an end within two hours, leaving the students, the teachers and us with a whole new experience.
Facilitating for this workshop had been a challenging task (because kids) and a learning opportunity. The two hours passed without any feeling of tiredness, boredom or listlessness. Rather, the young minds, trying to grab as much as they can in a small tour, made us frantic and kept us active too. This museum visit will lie in my memory box for a long period of time. Afterall, the first museum visit with the kids turned out to be as special as my first visit to the museum (as a kid).