A pre-primary school hosted a summer camp on Mary Poppins to introduce children to books and to help them learn life lessons in a fun way.

Mongrace Montessori House used P.L. Travers’ book as a theme for a two-week summer camp held in Short Street, New Town and Shantiniketan for children between two and six years.

“We want to introduce children to books and do it in a way that would make books attractive to them,” said Sanjana Vakharia, director, Mongrace Montessori House.

Books fight for space and attention from children competing with gadgets.

Vakharia said the children learnt about important life lessons using allusions from the book, but in a fun way.

“For example, taking a U-turn is about seeing things from a different perspective and seeing things positively,” said Vakharia.

“Also, the concept of a fairyland can vary with every individual. For one, a fairyland could mean a quiet corner with a book,” she said.

Children were shown clippings from the film Mary Poppins and then asked to do activities.

They listened to stories of the Banks children and their nanny, Mary Poppins, interpreted the characters, painted and finally made a scrapbook which was named “My Own Marry Poppins.”

“We want children to enjoy and learn simultaneously. Children love to explore, and as adults, we must introduce them to things that can be educational and help them learn beyond the usual way,” said a teacher.

Some of the parents will preserve the scrapbook, and next time when they want to buy a book for the children, they might want to buy Mary Poppins, the teacher said.

Anasuya Niyogi had enrolled her four-year-old daughter for the summer camp.

“As a child, I had seen the movie, and when her school had kept this as a theme, I wanted her to be a part of it. They did activities like
making kites that children nowadays don’t do,” said Niyogi.

“It was a wonderful experience and they were introduced to concepts like
how to save money and piggy banks and directions like north, south,
east and west, which was new to my child. It was learning beyond the text,” she said.