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Painting with natural elements
 Madras
Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) celebrated the wildlife week with
school children. A painting workshop & competition was
organised on October 4, 2003. An interactive session with
reptiles for children from a city school was conducted on
October 5, 2003.
The painting
workshop on October 4, 2003 saw 29 children participants from
near-by villages. The workshop was organised by Blodsow, an
artist from Cholamandalam Artists Village who is also an
associate of Bodhi Muzzik. Blodsow taught the children to paint
using natural materials such as mud, charcoal and colours
prepared from natural pigments like flowers and leaves, besides
different techniques and on how to use their own imagination.
Blodsow started
by allowing the children to dig their hands into the mud and mix
it with water and additives and then there was an exciting
session of mud flinging at brick walls of reptile enclosures to
prepare a mud coloured background. Blodsow then gave a
demonstration on how to use other natural materials and colours
to sketch and paint The most essential part of this workshop was
for the participants' free imagination.
By noon the
children got the idea and learnt how to draw & paint using
natural materials and colours and a painting competition was
then organised. The materials used were hand made paper, a red
mud mix, colours from charcoal, hibiscus flowers, leaves &
indigo along with brushes made from palm stems. The theme of the
competition was 'Croc Bank'.
After an hour
over 25 brilliant ideas and expressions were on canvas. Prizes
were given to three different concepts and all participants were
given certificates by MCBT. This unique concept of bringing
children closer to nature was organised to bring out the
creativity of children and to show them how these elements could
be utilised to prepare beautiful paintings. The response to the
workshop was overwhelming and there are plans to organise more
of these workshops in the future as it proved to be a powerful
medium to get a simple message across to the target audience,
namely the village children.
 As a part of
the World Wildlife Week celebrations, Sunday the 5th saw
students from the TI School visiting the Croc Bank. These
participants are members of 'The Friends of the Croc Bank Club'
and all of them were there to experience 'Close encounters of a
different kind'. The day began with an educational and
interactive tour of the Crocodile Bank. Information was shared
about the habitat, behaviour and breeding patterns of the
crocodiles and the various other reptiles at MCBT. Many queries
were answered and various doubts were clarified during the
session. The participants got an opportunity to observe at close
quarters an iguana, tortoises, baby gharials and some
non-poisonous snakes. For many, this was the 'first of its kind'
experience and it was indeed a very memorable one. The nature
enthusiasts from TI School were accompanied by their biology
teacher who explained to the students in detail about these
reptiles.
This was
followed by a puppet show at the Puppet Theatre of the Croc Bank
during the afternoon. The students enjoyed the show performed by
the organisers and then went on to enthusiastically perform an
impromptu skit for the organisers. The session provided the
students with information about the puppets and the techniques
of handling them.
The evening
closed with a workshop on bats under a large banyan tree that is
used as a roost by large fruit bats, and for many, this was the
first time they ever saw fruit bats. Complete bat kits were
given to each participant and they were taught about these
mysterious mammals using the various interactive tools provided
in the kit. The kit was designed and sent by ZOO Outreach
Organisation.
Madras
Crocodile Bank Trust regularly organises various programmes, for
village school children, to increase their awareness about their
environment, wildlife and the importance of conserving it. The
launch of NatureQuest, along with Orient Longman and TREE, is
among MCBT's most recent initiatives for this cause. At
NatureQuest, programmes are organised to increase appreciation
and awareness of nature among the city students and nature
enthusiasts. Programmes are conducted regularly at the Bookpoint
Auditorium, (Opp. Spencer Plaza), Chennai.
For further
information on MCBT, The Friends of the Croc Bank Club or
NatureQuest, please contact: Projects Coordinator Ph. No:
954272447 E-mail: mcbtindia@vsnl.net
Published on 10th Oct. 2003
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