Author Dr. Dasaratha Rama

Contributor: Manju Iyer

Can you think of different ways to have fun while learning about fruits?

In this blog post. I will share some activities and ideas to enjoy learning about fruits. 

• Theater activities (movement and dance, music and rhythm, storytelling, drama, and arts and crafts) can be used to enjoy learning about any topic or concept.
• Activities using visual and tactile tools (picture cards, index cards, Thinkblocks) can be used to enjoy learning about any topic or concept.

I. Activities

Activity 1. The Fruit Song

Watch the Fuit Song movement activity video:

https://youtu.be/oqiOE_GEswI?si=2haXf7zHczSnEEqQ

Video Description

100 Days of Family Fun and Learning
This movement activity is a part of the Family Fun and Learning collection.  This lesson is by Sri Ujwal Jagadeesh, Senior Faculty and Artiste at the Ramana Maharshi Center for Learning (RMCL).  Ujwal is an experienced Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) facilitator.  TAHD was developed by Dr. Ambika Kameshwar, Founder and Director of RASA (Ramana Sunritya Aalaya).

About the Video
The teacher and student are enjoying a movement activity.  There is no specific goal being addressed in this session.  There is no specific skill being taught. Imitation-based learning allows the teacher to invite the learner into the experience and to allow them to engage it in a way that works for them.  Concepts and skills are acquired gradually through an imitation-based process.  The teacher can observe what is unfolding and adjust the experience accordingly.

Activity 2. Building Sentences

https://youtu.be/nhJbrE6YtM0?si=ieor2RFwkjYW3cCK

About the Video
100 Days of Family Fun and Learning – Fun with Language

This movement activity is a part of the Family Fun and Learning collection. 
In this video, Ananth shows how to build sentences with Thinkblocks. These sentences are based on the fruit song. After visualizing the concepts and actions with a theater activity, parents and children can explore fruits with visual and tactile tools.  Thinkblocks are a visual and tactile tool developed by Cabrera Research Lab (CRL). Thinkblocks are based on the DSRP (Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives) method developed by CRL.

We used Thinkblocks daily since we discovered it in 2007. When Ananth was in elementary school, we did not do separate grammar lessons. We used movement activities, stories, and Thinkblocks to explore language while learning academic content.

II. See it, Do it, Share it!
In our videos, we show how we used theater tools, visual thinking tools, and other tools to have fun while learning various concepts and skills. It is not our goal to provide step by step grammar or language arts lessons as there are many resources with such lessons. Rather, we share our explorations to raise awareness and encourage parents and other to explore different ways of learning in an enjoyable way. We have used various theater arts as well as visual and tactile tools for over 15 years and we are sharing our journey of how we enjoy learning with such tools.  Our intention is that parents and educators will see the videos, do what works for different learners, and share their experiences with us.  Read more about how to use our videos and other resources here:

https://specialsaathi.com/2024/07/23/see-it-do-it-share-itthe-100-day-family-fun-and-learning-lab/

Read about Lavanya’s exploration, a young learner who is taking the initiative to follow this process and learn from our video resources below:

III. Lavanya’s Exploration

By Manju Iyer

As a part of the 100 day project. We have been working on 1 video submission each week. As Rama akka has made the playlist available with the help of Ujwal anna and Ananth. Lavanya chooses 1 song each week from the playlist.
• Imitate :  I play the video for her to imitate and practice daily for 5 days.
• Repeat : The beauty of this process is that she gets better and better each day with repeated practice. I dont look for perfection as I know it is improving each time she is attempting.
• Memorize : After repeated practice, when I finally feel she has memorized the important steps, we decide to record.
• Improvise : After creating the video, she works on animations as she believes that many kids will be watching it and they will enjoy the animated additions. This way we are following see it, do it and share it.

https://youtu.be/0QlzVs5yfvc?si=apOB-UtsNo83t9ej

Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) is a structured way of enjoying learning.

Think about how we interact with babies and young children.  We sing songs, move together, share stories, enact stories and engage in pretend play, and do arts and crafts.  These are the five familiar tools of theater.  TAHD is about mindful use of these tools to enjoy experiences together while addressing a variety of outcomes.  Ananth and I are both TAHD ambassadors.  Our TAHD experience started over 15 years ago through Waldorf and Enki, two educational approaches that are movement rich, arts-integrated, and story-rich approaches.  TAHD has opened the doors to the use of such an approach for lifelong learning and not just a school curriculum.  RASA (Ramana Sunritya Aalaya) has ND adult students who are engaged with TAHD throughout the day.

Our approach of theater activities followed by deeper  language arts and other exploration is inspired by our experiences with Waldorf and Enki Education. For example, see this quote from Enki Education website (https://enkieducation.org/):
“Children are first immersed in the living quality of what they study. Through storytelling, visual arts, movement, music, manipulatives, activities, and projects this alternative education soaks in the qualities and living textures of what they are studying. Then, on this rich base of connection to life, they bring what they have absorbed to mastery through intellectual exploration, discussion, exercises, practice, and concrete application. This process allows the children to absorb, engage with, and retain what they have learned.”

Ananth and I have also used a variety of visual and tactile tools for over 15 years.  Now, we are exploring ways to integrate such tools with theater activities to amplify the fun and to enhance learning.

IV. Join our 100 Days of Family Fun and Learning Project


1. Join our Whatsapp group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/G3ugGAtcQOK0sGQg5X8LnP


2. View the video resources on Ananth’s Adventures Youtube channel:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqFzR-vYU-ZhWWw9QjIMI0pPRQKFK2uCM&si=Fe6wM_ZLRWN4mKES


3. Read my blog on SpecialSaathi.

Author Dr Dasaratha Rama
Dr. Dasaratha Rama is a professor and home educator. She was the editor of a monograph on service-learning published by the American Association of Higher Education. This monograph was a part of a series of monographs on service-learning published by AAHE. She was also an Engaged Scholar with the Campus Compact, an association in the US dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement at colleges and universities. She has served as the Chair of the Teaching and Curriculum Section of the American Accounting Education. She is a certified leader in systems thinking, mapping, and leadership under a program offered by Cabrera Research Lab. She is currently doing a certificate in Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) from RASA (Ramana Sunritya Aalaya).

Contributor Manju K Iyer
Manju K Iyer is a Psychologist, Counselor,  Parent coach, Play Therapist, Homeschooler and Founder of PlayTime ( A coaching program for parents of children with special needs).