Aditya Birla World Academy celebrated ‘Global School Play Day’ to increase awareness about unstructured play
Mumbai: Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA) celebrated ‘Global School Play Day’ – a day dedicated to being free, do nothing but play. The idea of conducting this programme was to highlight the importance of play among children while returning the gift of unstructured play to students. ABWA actively participated in this global event that helps in restoring unstructured play to this generation of kids. Initiated in 2015, the Global School Play Day is celebrated as an acknowledgement that play matters, that kids need to have fun, that our society has gone amok with testing and drilling and making kids sit in seats and has forgotten what childhood is about.
Due to the pandemic outbreak, the program was conducted virtually this year, where ABWA encouraged the parents to participate in the play day along with their children by playing their favourite games. For ABWA students, a ‘Homeroom time’ was scheduled where a list of activities was planned with students. Through this initiative, the school focused on highlighting the importance of unstructured play through the campaign #PlugOffPlayOn. It encouraged kids to avoid electronic devices and gadgets for a day and focus on playing games such as board games, lego, racetracks, cars, jigsaw puzzles, blankets for fort building, cards, markers, empty cardboard boxes, and various engaging games at home.
Commenting on this initiative, Mrs Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson of Aditya Birla Education Trust said, “Through programs such as the Global School Play Day, we aim to create a healthy social development of children and young adults by involving them in play based learning activities. Most of the children are engrossed in the technology world and have forgotten what childhood is all about. Play day is a reminder for parents, children, educators and for everyone to acknowledge that play is essential to have better mental health.”
Mrs. Radhika Sinha, Principal, Aditya Birla World Academy said, “Global Play Day is our way to affirm a child’s right and need to play. It is a day for parents, educators, city planners—for everyone—to think about what they can do to make free play once again a major part of childhood.”
ABWA student & parent’s voices
· Global School Play Day is the one opportunity to get off our everyday online lives, and play! Even though we had to do it virtually this time from home, we enjoyed connecting with our classmates and was a good break from my monotonous routine. – Zainab Kagzi, Grade 9 student
· I found the experience fun and fulfilling. Learning virtually can be difficult and stressful but the global school play day gave us a chance to slow down, and build a stronger bond with each other. – Parini Gandhi, Grade 11 AS Level student
· The Global School Play Day is a wonderful concept. The excitement in the kids was evident since the time it was announced and like each year this year too it was being looked forward to. Of course, owing to the Covid19, School from Home situation this year, with the reduced playtime and that too online, we saw that the fun factor was not as much as the past years. I believe it is playing a very important role in peer groups. It most certainly is a memorable day in the ‘academic’ year of the kids, ‘being in charge of the classroom activities’, and should essentially continue for all their school years. A big thanks to the School Management and Teaching Team for being a part of this effort and for seamlessly overseeing this each year. – Mr. Aditya Nemani father of Tanishi Nemani Grade 5 student
About Aditya Birla World Academy
Backed by Aditya Birla Education Trust, Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA) is India’s leading International School located in South Mumbai. ABWA strongly believes in holistic development of its students. ABWA strives to create a cohesive learning environment that is conducive to developing a child’s innate talents. In addition to focus on academic excellence, ABWA students are encouraged to think critically and question the world around them. Further, through a wide range of extra and co-curricular activities, ABWA aims to develop a child’s personality and stimulate him/her to be mindful, sensitive and responsible member of society. ABWA focuses on socio-emotional development of each and every child to ensure that he/she feels safe, supported and motivated.