Children, being so little, have a natural tendency to grasp objects, just as you know for example, they are very fond of holding your fingers. Likewise their psychology has a propensity to cling on to their belongings. This attitude towards one’s possessions, in the language of philosophy, is popularly known as attachment. In today’s activity, we are going to groom a mindset free of such attachment.
Age Group : 6-7 yrs old
The Ideation
- I asked the children to bring toys.
- The toys could be preferably old ones.
- Label the toys with the child’s name.
- Say five sentences about the toy.
- Children were informed that they would not get their toys back.
- The toys will be given to the children who do not have parents to buy toys for them.
The Execution
- It was not easy for all the children to give up their toys.
- Some of the children labeled their toys while some did not.
- Few of the children, as if deliberately, brought broken toys, for they knew that they would have to part with their toys.
- One child came up to me and reasoned that it was his gift on his fourth birthday given by his aunt and that is why he did not want to give away the toy.
- Another child said that he did not have any old toy, therefore did not bring any, for giveaway.
- The children were excited to say a few lines about their toys and and show those to the whole class.
- Some children surprisingly brought more than one toys for giveaway.
A toy is not only an object of attachment for a child but also an object of monetary value for a parent, therefore it was also a deciding factor whether a parent would be in favour of giving away the toy. Giving away a toy is different from donating a toy to a poor child because donating could be of new objects as well, whereas giving away typically refers to parting with one’s own belongings, thereby serving as a lesson to rid one’s mind of materialistic attachments, whereby donating becomes a very natural behaviour of such mindset, notably without the necessity to instruct a child about charity and kindness under a religious canon.
Groom a mindset that begets with necessity, the science of morality.
1Kg Shiksha Education 