प्रकृति का पिटारा - A Nature Education Kit in Hindi

The more we venture into the outdoors and look at plants, animals and insects that surround us, the closer we feel to nature and develop a connection with the natural world around us. 

In school, children learn about problems facing the planet; but not about why they should care. For this, children must appreciate the natural world for its own sake. While we often watch documentaries about far away places and forests on TV and hear about hummingbirds and Bald Eagles from other countries, we sometimes forget to look into our backyard to appreciate the bright blue sunbird or the colourful little signature spider. We strive to bring nature outside our windows and in our backyards, closer to children, parents and teachers. India has a vast diversity of languages and we wish to create resources that introduce children to nature in our backyards in several Indian languages and in this project, we start with Hindi!  

As part of the Education and Public Engagement programme of Nature Conservation Foundation, the Early Bird, Nature Classrooms and Seasonwatch teams have been creating locally relevant educational resources for children to create interest, excitement and wonder for the natural world.

With the aim of creating and distributing material in regional languages, the three teams are collaborating to put together a Nature Education Kit (प्रकृति का पिटारा) in Hindi. We are working with partners in the field of education in the northern states of India including Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra to reach the schools in these regions. Through these partners, we will reach ~200 schools, including government and small scale private schools interested in using the nature education material in their curriculum. If you would like to suggest a deserving recipient for the kit, please fill this form https://bit.ly/EB-donations. 

The material has been created keeping in mind the audience in the Hindi speaking states of India.

The Hindi Nature Education kit (प्रकृति का पिटारा) includes 

• Engaging posters for classroom display, on birds, plants, other fauna, and interactions in nature 
• A set of flashcards (पक्षी परिचय) on common birds of India, that can be used inside and outside the classroom, to teach about birds and for group games and activities
• Simple games and creative activities that encourage children to go outdoors and explore nature. These can be photocopied and used to engage all children. 
• Pocket guides on birds and trees, that are useful as identification aids while on a nature walk
• an India specific Biodiversity Booklet (made in collaboration with the Wipro Foundation) that is a guide for teachers to engage children on various aspects of biodiversity. [This is being provided as a donation by Wipro Foundation]

Through this campaign, we are only raising funds for the printing and shipping costs of the education kits in Hindi. We have successfully raised funds for developing content and designing the materials that go into the kit. The material is ready to be printed and shipped to the schools and partners that need them. We are now seeking support from you to reach the target audience.

We routinely create educational material in regional languages and are currently working on increasing the reach of these resources. We believe that creating excitement and interest about nature among children can help them get started on their journey of nature watching and appreciation. Such nature learning facilitated by engaging resources would help create voices for nature and conservation in the future.

Educational material is often largely created in English and by creating material in regional languages we hope to reach a different audience and encourage them to explore the rich biodiversity around them. 

In this campaign we are mainly seeking help for printing and distribution of the Hindi Nature education kit to the ~200 schools in the states mentioned above. The total price per kit is ~ 2000 INR and our target amount for this campaign is 4,00,000 INR.  

After the campaign is concluded, the three teams will conduct an online training session for the beneficiaries of the kit, to familiarize them with the contents of the kit and how to use the materials effectively in their learning spaces.