Wednesday, August 5, 2009

red feet and hands

On Monday it was mess time again. Somehow we end up doing mess play in the playground every Monday.

I took downstairs a box of corn flour, three bottles of food coloring and a lot of water. There were about eight kids, each one took turns spooning corn flour into an aluminium tray, and adding water to mix them together. Then the kids put their feet in the corn flour to go all around the play ground.

I then suggested using color. Sharon and Pooja, I think, took the whole thing in spirit, and before we knew it, a while box of corn flour mixed with a load of food coloring and the whole playground floow was full of a rich brown (is it liquid, is it water) thing and about six children, including my own, were having fun, and the floor next to the puddle was littered with colorful foot and hand prints.

Of course, there were some kids who stayed on the periphery, looking in with a mixture of disapproval and longing (their parents didnt allow them to play) and others who dove right in, got their hands and feet full of paint and pretended to be monsters. For better measure, I had brought along some paint brushes and some of the children who didnt want to get their hands dirty, quite literally, used the brushes to paint the trees and furniture. Sophia walked along  (helped by daddy) and made quite a beautiful set of Krishna feet.

What was more fun was the cleaning up. We brought down two full tubs of water and poured the water down. Sneha took a coconut mat and used it as a broom to sweep the water into the drain. Anjali, in her own helpful fashion, poured the water into the drain directly.

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