What comes to your mind when you hear the word treasure box?

Usually Jewels, Gold, Silver and any other valuable materialistic things that are kept very safe, right?

‘What’s in my Treasure Box?’ was the activity conducted at Vidya Jyothi School in session 17, this session was the 5th session on self-exploration.

Firstly I would like to share some interesting things I witnessed with my group at this school from when the self-exploration/awareness activities have started.

This bunch of 35 students mostly consisted of very shy students who remained very silent in any energisers that involved physical movements, any activity which involved public speaking. Self-awareness activities created magic. Not one student I could say, was not involved. Every student showed involvement in these activities, as they are individual activities, they involved things about themselves (they did not have to share it with anyone).

Self-awareness and self-development go hand in hand. Self-awareness is a key that can help you not only reach the goals but also discover who you are at the core and what is that you want out of life. Becoming self-aware can help students understand their needs, wants and desires, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. When you are self-aware you know exactly what you want, it will help one choose the right career choices. At the same time, we show children how to be rooted to their society. This is why phase 2 of our 100th Monkey program is completely about self-exploration.

With this, I would like to share 2 activities I conducted at Vidya Jyothi School and St Teresa’s School, one of them being “Treasure Box” activity and the other, “Pie of Life”.

A meaningful life is one that is in balance, one in which adequate time is giving to the activities that express your values and priorities. To help students understand how important it is to find a balance in their schedule, ‘Pie of Life’ activity was used. This activity required the group to represent the amount of time they spend doing different things in a day. This lets them view their entire day in a pie and helps in reflecting.

A boy had written about going on a long ride everyday for an hour. While debriefing, when asked if anyone thinks they can reduce the time they are spending on something that doesn’t add value and start something new, he said “Yes ma’am, I like to dance, so I would reduce the time I go out and concentrate on dancing”. This came from the boy himself, there was no force or pointing towards any child’s pie. At first when he said that, I personally felt the child is saying this because something has to be told when a question is put forward, but he is actually following it, which is a great beginning for a positive change – hopefully.

Another activity was ‘Treasure Box’. Lots of wishes, desires, and hopes were seen in the eyes of the children as they wrote what are the things that they love and want to have in their lives that they don’t have now! This was the ‘Treasure Box ‘activity. So many wishes from small to big wishes such as their favourite food items, makeup sets for girls, bikes, ATM cards, cars, a big house, friends, family etc etc.

I would seriously like to admit there was some kind of spark in everyone’s eyes when they were involved in this activity. At the end of this session, they were asked to reflect and write some things they are supposed to do in order to achieve what they want in life. I really hope they find their way and get all that they deserve and wish for!!