3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms Niv

Issue #258, 17th June 2025

Where does your child/student play? how much time in your school timetable/home-weekend routine is allocated for outdoor, free, unstructured play? Is the playground natural/nature based or sterile, rubber and metal structure? Last week celebrated international day of play, where did your child/student play?

Here are three natural, easy, and affordable features you can add to create a nature-based playground:

Log Balance Beams and Stepping Stones using fallen tree logs or large rocks arranged at ground level for balance challenges. Simply place them strategically to create paths, balance beams, or stepping stone patterns. They develop gross motor skills and spatial awareness naturally.

Digging and Sand Play Area by designating a section for digging with basic tools like small shovels and buckets. Kids can dig, build, and explore textures while developing fine motor skills and creativity. This connects them directly with earth elements and costs very little beyond the initial setup.

Natural Climbing Structure by creating climbing opportunities using sturdy tree branches, large rocks, or a simple mound of dirt covered with grass. Alternatively, pile up logs or rocks to form climbing challenges. This builds strength, coordination, and problem-solving skills while keeping children engaged with natural materials.

The idea is to encourage unstructured play, connect children with nature, which can be implemented with minimal cost using locally available materials. They also require little maintenance once established and blend naturally into the landscape.

Happy International Day of Play!

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Three Images of the Week

Two Thoughts of the Week

“Children engage in [free] play because they enjoy it – it’s self-directed. They do not play for rewards; they enjoy the doing, not the end result. Once they get bored, they go on to do something else – and continue to learn and grow.” – Sheila G. Flaxman

“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

One Video of the Week

Designing playgrounds for happier, healthier kids | Sarah Werner Konradi | TEDxMileHigh

Imagine a playground. You’re probably thinking of hard plastic and rubber, right? Modern playgrounds are boring and sterile and have so little to offer for child development. Landscape architect Sarah Werner Konradi has a better idea. Sarah Konradi is a landscape architect working at the intersection of design, conservation, and health.

As Program Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Early Childhood Health Outdoors program, Sarah works with underserved communities to re-envision outdoor spaces used by children and families, creating playgrounds that support child development and connection to the natural world.

Sarah lives with her German husband, 9-year-old son, and a cat named Chuck Norris. She is an amateur meteorologist, obsessively following the weather forecast.

Reading with Ms. Meenu: Tip of the week

Show Us a Sign: 

Why Study Signage?

Signs play a vital role in our daily lives. Even before students can read words, they know that octagonal red signs mean stop. We teach children waiting to cross the street to look for the white or green walking figure as their cue to step into the crosswalk. Do they wonder what happened in your neighborhood before they lived there? Historic markers provide details that help us connect the present with the past. Maps help us get where we want to go. From the time we are young, signs are a part of our visual landscape and help us mediate our daily lives. In fact, they signal to us where to go, what to do when something will happen, and help us develop a deeper understanding of an event or place. Creating signage requires our young writers to consider audience, purpose and voice, and make decisions about using tools of visual literacy such as icons, arrows, bullets, maps and other types of graphic design elements to communicate effectively and efficiently. Since many of these are already a part of the literacy curriculum, making signs provides an engaging opportunity to apply these writing techniques in authentic ways. Studying signage as a genre requires readers to figure out the message created by a combination of words and images. It’s also a great way for young writers to use short text to problem solve about purpose and think carefully about ways to reach their audience. Because signs are relatively short, involve graphic elements and images and are used for authentic purposes in familiar settings, studying and creating signs offers multiple entry points for students. Not only will making signs provide students with new literacy experiences, doing so will also empower them to contribute to their school community in authentic and significant ways.

Happy Reading and stay tuned until next week to know more about how signs can solve problems!

Meenu Gera

Consulting home and school librarian reading guide

Despite all odds…

(posting it again in this week’s newsletter from last week as many of the readers could not access it)

Can’t fly a plane? Build one.

Not traveled? Become a diplomat.

Struggled in the 10th? top in 12th.

Vidya Stars – In Conversation with Nivedita: Meet Khushi, Rinkesh and Shikha. Stars of 2025 scoring well above 90% and realising their dreams despite all odds. About VIDYA, a school for children from underprivileged backgrounds.

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Know more about VIDYA by visiting : https://vidya-india.org/

Dear reader,
I work with the school leadership team as an advisor and collaborate with teachers as a pedagogical trainer. I also help parents as a parenting counselor and regularly engage one-on-one with students as a personal guide and mentor. This weekly newsletter shares what I read, learn, and experience.

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