The place where play transforms, where joy opens the
path
As flowers blossom in the sun, children blossom in Joy
Concept
Lilaloka, the place of Play
(in Sanskrit), offers a new educational approach centred on Joy, in order to
become our own life’s creator. Through joy, the child blossoms and find his path,
gains trust in his potentialities. Joy connects us to our inner child, to
others and gives meaning to life: it is a crucial value to recover in today’s
world. Lilaloka offers various activities, based on Play, which allows the child
to reveal himself as an individual and amongst others, without competition or
judgement. This place is opened to all children, schooled or not, having
difficulties or not, beyond all categorizations and allowing mixes of ages. The
team of Lilaloka wants to work in collaboration with schools and parents,
considering each child as an evolving being.
We have individual sessions in
the morning, and group activities in the afternoon.
We also offer 2 mornings for
homeschooled children and long term guests.
Ongoing activities
Nature’s Theatre wants to create a safe and
inspiring environment where each individual can make its point and create its
space to follow its own unique path. With each group, we start from nothing, a
blank page and experience the magic of making the first point on an empty space.
A first point contains an infinite sea of possibilities.
Our journey begins with a story, “ 1,2,3 and a star We-be”. The stars take us on a journey where we prove that we are all just like a
star. We learn to work with the compass, in this case, two sticks and a rope.
Each participant uses its own body measures for this construction. We make our
first point and pull from there a never-ending line, the circle. Within that
line, our star is born. We are uniform in our shape but no point is the same and
each star has its own path to follow. Together we make a constellation. At that
point, the facilitator follows the stars and creates the space to let their
story evolve.
My observation is that once we have constructed the shape and played with our
compass, the participants get inspired to design and create. With children, this
mostly results in creating a world together and play within it. Creation and
play are the foundation of Nature’s Theatre. While we create we build a world,
while we play in that world we create the objects needed to manifest that
world. Within that project, we imitate the real world and discover where
our talents lay and how that can benefit the group as a whole.
Shiatsu and reflexo-therapy
used as a tool to connect with the children
and gain their trust through non-verbal communication.
The full
session last about one hour. We start with a small relaxing massage to align our
self. The session takes between 5 and 30 minutes depending on the child. The
aim is to release the body of the day to day tensions. Once this tension is
released the child is able to find a connection with the self which opens the
way to increase confidence. Becoming more confident the child is open to
receive the tools which can help him to better cope with their emotions. This
results in better social skills which lead to a more joyful interaction with
other children and adults. This relaxing massage is repeated in all sessions.
Then till the end of the session, the child receives full attention in his
needs, being through play, games, drawing, learning alphabet etc., to regain
his self-confidence
Medicinal plants (Being one with all) to learn the use of mainly local medicinal plants in a playful way.
The activity is based on teamwork. Together
we honour Mother Earth, each other and the world around us, explore and learn
how we can support each other.
We do this by exploring the land around us
and learn to recognize medical plants that can help our body and mind, to be
healthy and comfortable.
We learn how to prepare the remedies, [the
children call them magic potions], Simple home remedies for rashes, burns,
dehydration, common cold, body coolers, anxiety, nightmares, anger, shyness,
make one’s own new potion (it includes, making wood fires for our teas, mixing
and squashing with the hand, cutting, pouring, stitching and delegating tasks
to each other so all get a turn).
The preparation of our plant creations and
their application invites communication, sharing and teamwork. We share
stories of our experiences related to the plants healing abilities.
This builds trust among the children; we
become aware of our inner self, the other and the world around us. It also
helps to develop the senses, experience the different textures, smells, tastes
and to experience the joy of discovering the interrelation of all things.
The main objective is to build confidence,
respect and ownership of oneself and one's feelings. To help the child to learn
to express and respect themselves and the world they live in. This is done with
the help of medicinal plants and how they live in coexistence with other living
things so also with us.
Other activities envisaged:
creative radio, music room,
Balamata - playgroup for babies and
toddlers, game library, a hall for collective activities such as «Awareness
through the body », dance, aïkido, singing, yoga, relaxation, storytelling…
The Play of
Painting: this collective activity
(mixed age groups children and adults) is based on non-judgement, on self-discovery
and on free expression through painting (“Arno Stern” concept). It respects the
rhythms and specificities of each one, unique amongst others, beyond all
competition.
« The art of painting aims at the production of a piece of art. The Play of
Painting gives birth to the formulation: a code which is original, coherent and
universal.».
Specialised
library for children: a daring
turtle-shaped building will host this place of reading and creation of stories
and will include a puppet theatre, a room of secrets, storytelling…
Evolving Games: life itself being a game in constant evolution, the
rules evolve with and according to the public, on the basis of existing games.
We also create new games. Respect, responsibility, autonomy, love and sharing
are the basis of this activity.
Creation and
publication of books and games: creating beautiful stories, new games for children, and all so tools and
books for educators are part of Lilaloka’s activities.
Research and training: Lilaloka’s team wishes to share their knowledge and
offer training to students and educators from all countries that are attracted
by the international aspect of Auroville. Indian researchers in the educational
field will be particularly welcome.
The Team
Marianne, Jitta,
Anna are professionals in the field
of education for many years and work with children of all ages (even with
adults), various nationalities, with and without specific needs. Each one of us
has developed her own speciality.
“Each individual is a special manifestation in the universe; therefore
his true path has to be absolutely unique.”
The Mother
website: http://lilaloka.org/
Email: lilaloka@auroville.org.in
Contact details
For group
activities, please send a WhatsApp
to Jitta: +91 9159053161
For individual
sessions, please WhatsApp to
Marianne +91 9443085038 or Jitta - +91 9159053161
How to participate in building Lilaloka
By your enthusiasm
for the project!
By donations of
equipment
By your financial
donations (see details below).
How to give:
If you have an
Auroville Financial Service account, you can transfer a donation to Unity account
252023 mentioning « Lilaloka » as the purpose.
If you live in India or abroad
you can send your donation via the Auroville online Donation Gateway: http://www.auroville.com/donations/
Please inform us
at the time of sending (with a reference e-mail if possible), so that we can
acknowledge receipt as soon as possible.
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