1. Title of Story – ‘Spreading Joy with a Toy’What did we change?The dull classrooms in nearby schools (anganwadis), which recorded very less attendance. FeelThe small schools (anganwadis) in the vicinity of our school lack any attraction for the kids studying there.The schools visited were- Anganwadi No. 69 & 70 and Mother Alice English High School

2. MPK children’s reactions when they were taken to these schools and the problem put before them- Ismat(Who seemed quite shocked to see the congested classrooms) - “I feel sad. The rooms are so small.” Aaryush- “The walls are not cleaned.” Ismat- “The teachers are nice but they have only two to three toys for the children.” Raghav- “I will not come here again as I don’t like the place.”

3. We took up circle time to discuss the problem – (here are some opinions and solutions from our KGII class) - Sentence Stem- ‘I can help my friends in anganwadis by ….. Kavya- ...........giving them crayon and colouring books’ Aryush ……..taking a rag and cleaning the walls’ Jiya-… we have many toys. Other children who don’t have toys, we give our toys to them’ Aryush……in my house I share my toys with beggars’ Raghav …..giving them my remote control car. It will make me happy’ Krish…..making a Toy Zone like the one we have in our school’ Finally, it was decided that each child will get one toy from home and set up toy libraries in such schools.

4. Imagine We don’t have the facilities as you have in your schools. Attendance is very low and we have to convince the parents to send their children to school.” Interacting with the Head Sevika of Anganwadi

5. Do Motivating their peers - ‘Each one to contribute one’ The children went about in the classrooms and requested their friends to donate a toy each. Around 800 children from the kindergarten were motivated to get toys not only from their houses but also from neighbours. They were also requested to get a toy which is not broken or is not destructive.

6. The children asked us to send a notice to their parents requesting them to help their child select a proper toy for donation. “MOTHER’S PET” KINDERGARTEN NOTICE Dear Parent, We are glad to announce that ‘Mother’s Pet’ Kindergarten, Wardhaman Nagar, will be a part of ‘Design for Change’ School Contest 2010. For this, our children have decided to contribute a toy each to set up a ‘Toy Library’ for the underprivileged children in nearby schools. Also, some toys will be donated to the needy children. We would like the parents to support the cause by – Helping the child select the toy which he/she can willingly give away. The toy has to be an old one, but kindly see to it that it is not broken or destructive (for eg. guns) Talk to your child about the ‘joy of giving & sharing’. If your child does not have an old toy he/she can collect it from friends or relatives provided the message of giving is passed to them, too. Thank you and looking forward to your kind co-operation. The toys once donated won’t be returned.

7. Convincing the supervisor of recipient schools to start a Toy Library- The children took a second visit to the schools and did a good job of convincing the administration staff over there to let them start a toy library without any apprehension. Krish to the sevika- Good morning ma’am, aaphameapne school meinthodisijagha do, hameapne toys apne new friends kesaath share karnekeliye.

8. Making new friends Kavya : kyaaapko toys se khelnapasandhai ? Children : yes Gautami : kyaaapke school mein toys hai Children : No Krish : hamare school mein to bahootsare toys haikyaaapkoapne school mein toys chahiye When the children of that school said yes, our children promised them to bring lots of toys for them. Then they all got to know each other by asking names Gautami Raghav Look here is your name on the I-card.

9. Bridging the gap Ismat Kavya Krish

10. Collecting the toys from the MPK children and Sorting out the toys- “Where are the vehicles?”

11. Distributing the boxes to the recipient schools

12. MPK children distributing the toys to the other children Kavya – “hum aapkeliyebahootsare toys layehai” Raghav – “aapyeh toys kotodnanahin, ache se rakhna” Gautami – “aap toys kogharlekenahinjana”

13. Children playing with the toys –

14. How did we get changed? The children of Mother’s Pet come from well-off families. They have lot of toys at their disposal, so the concept of ‘sharing’ and taking care of their belongings is not very clear with them. This project really made them feel the happiness which they could spread and get by sharing. Ismat- “I am happy when I see them happy” Raghav- “Can we call them to our school?” They even convinced our School Director to allow their new friends to visit MPK for their annual picnic!

15. The children in anganwadis also gave a very good response to the Toy Library. It acted as a catalyst to make them look forward to coming to school. The attendance really increased in the school since the inception of the same. The teachers in anganwadi started using the toys as teaching aids, too!

16. VIDEO CLIP- KAVYA EXPRESSING HER FEELINGS

17. VIDEO CLIP- ISMAT EXPRESSING HER JOY

18. VIDEO CLIP-SEVIKA EXPRESSING HER VIEWS ON THE TOY LIBRARY

19. VIDEO CLIP- SMILING FACES OF ANGANWADI CHILDREN

20. Feedback of the recipient schools