We had a sleepover at the school!
All fun starts with food and so we began with grocery shopping for the big day!
Kids grocery shopping with our teachers!
At 3:30 pm, everyone was ready with their pillows, sleeping bags, and toiletries to camp on the school premises. We waited not a minute to begin the fun.
Taking fun seriously!
It started with a storytelling session. The kids were rapt by Sudha Murthy’s story Five Spoons of Salt, and the air was punctuated with oohs, awws, and other exclamations. One of our kids, Yusuf, interjected out loud if the story was about him with just names changed because he could relate to the forgetful protagonist of the story all too well! At which, we all shared a chuckle!
Quickly came the time for snacks –and our kids know that no outdoor or indoor fun can be complete without a good, hearty sandwich. Kids joined the teachers to help chop cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions.
Chopping veggies like a pro!
Our junior sous chefs with their tiny hands tackled onion tears, juicy tomatoes, and wriggly cucumbers well. In most settings, this is not easy to achieve. So it was for us. At first, there was a little resistance to chopping the vegetables. Our teachers then patiently explained how cooking is an important life skill we could all benefit from. They showed utmost camaraderie and enjoyed the process once they understood the why behind learning to cook.
Sous chefs and sandwiches!
There’s an even bigger and more meticulous why attached to every activity we incorporate for kids at ILM. The Montessori method believes in the overall development of children. Some of its key principles are respect for children, a prepared environment, autonomy, and independence. The sleepover and all the activities in our itinerary for the day were an effort to inculcate independent decision-making, improve executive skills, and help in real-world growth.
Watching the film, Utopia, together!
Morning rolled around, and our early birds were already chirping at 6:30 am. Some fun exercises and freshening up later was time for breakfast. During the whole time, there was bubbling, contagious excitement to resume watching the film they had to pause last night. Soon after, all the kids were lined up to go home and relay these exciting memories to their parents.
ILM lit up for the sleepover!
This is one of those remarkable times at ILM that was as special for the kids as it was for us.
Is there anything more fun for a child than make-believe play where they are adults with autonomy and looking at the future with optimism and excitement?
What we love about all this is the mingling of their innocence with the anticipation of feeling like a grown-up. It is always this unrefined, guileless moment we look back on when we are adults.