Blog posted by Arjun M (Class 9, Christ Nagar International School)

Recently, I had a chance to participate in a 3-day Theatre based NLP Workshop at Schoolkutti.com Children’s Library, Trivandrum. I was not sure what to expect, but I went with an open mind since I generally enjoy programs where I get to interact with other children and make new friends. Let me try to briefly share my experience over there.
Day 1

We were initially given an introduction to NLP, and to the facilitators themselves. They asked us about our expectations, and boy, did they deliver! After the break, we had a self introduction, after which each kid had to mention three things about the children to their left and right. This helped us all get familiar with each other. A lunch break later, the games session began with dumb charades and truth or dare. A short session where we learned to differentiate between reflexes and responses, and what to rely on and how to use them finished and gave way to the drama class, which began soon after. It had everyone cracked up, with the drama sir showing us the different aspects of drama including actions and dialogues. All the children also got to do a demonstration of each one, and the teacher was always ready to correct and fine tune our attempts. This went on into the evening, with the very entertaining class coming to a close around 5 PM.

Day 2

This day began with the drama class, where the children were taught of different rasas, or emotions, and they used them in short scenes. It was an enjoyable and enlightening session, and it kept us occupied until the lunch break, after which we played games like Pictionary. This was followed by a session on deletion, distortion and other factors which played a role in the way information could change as it went on from person to person. The further it travels and the longer it is, the more it can get changed, just like in Chinese whispers. A short set of role plays were also performed. However, it was soon time to call it a day. Another interesting session had come to a close.

Day 3

First, a short session on how we must treat others the way we expect to be treated. We also talked freely about what we thought of each other. The day became lively with some warm up stretches and breathing exercises, led by the drama teacher, after which a very helpful and interesting session on tackling our fears was held. This saw each child explaining what they knew about a certain kind of fear, how it could be tackled and if it was a valid solution or not. After this, it was already quite late, but we did manage to play Pictionary. To close, different topics that were touched upon in the last few days were assigned to the students, who were assorted into teams of two or three. We had to design a poster on the topic we received. I believe that each child did a great job in explaining his/her own poster wonderfully. Certificates were handed out to all the children, and that was that.

That was how this three day workshop had succeeded to leave a lasting positive impact on each kid who had walked in and out of those doors, and that is why this workshop will surely be remembered by the students and the facilitators alike.

Blog posted by Arjun M (Class 9, Christ Nagar International School)