Children’s imaginations are simply wonderful. Today, I met – a porcupine who dreamed of being a pillow – a hen that had three wings and could not fly – a snail that ran marathons – a dinosaur with twenty legs – a mouse that went to school and many more. Two by two, these animals […]
Read Something New! – Day Three
The second-last session of Read Something New! just came to an end. We had limericks, nonsense verse, drama, mimes and group rhymes. Our author in focus this week was Michael Morpurgo; next week, we’re going to talk about Dick King-Smith. Read Something New! Venue: British Library, Pune
Read Something New!
Holiday over; I am back to work. Sometimes, I wonder which I enjoy more – the holiday or the work! Session 3 of my reading workshop Read Something New! at the British Library Pune is tomorrow. We are going to be talking about Michael Morpurgo, and I am excited. Read Something New! – Session 3 […]
Photographs from Yesterday’s Workshops
Sunday morning saw the end of my two-day workshop, Weekend with Words, at JustBooks Aundh. With Word Search, Word-Building and Word Train, we came to the end of a fun workshop! At the British Library, we had a day based on Roald Dahl! Today, we have: Storytelling Workshop Time: 11 am to noon Age-group: 5-8 […]
Two Workshops Yesterday!
Here are some of the photographs from yesterday’s workshops! Weekend with Words by Varsha Seshan at JustBooks Aundh Storytelling with Varsha at Friends Library Mark the next ones! JustBooks, Aundh: The second session of Weekend with Words is today at 10:30 am British Library: The second session of Read Something New! is today at 3 […]
Day One: Read Something New!
Spending a Sunday afternoon with enthusiastic children at the British Library is such a joy! The idea of this workshop was to get over Geronimo Stilton and Wimpy Kid, and begin to read something new. I know too many children who finish their Geronimo Stiltons and then say they have nothing more to read. With […]
Workshops Ahead
Here is what my next two weekends look like! Workshop Details Weekend with Words: Age-group: 9-12 Registration Fee: Rs. 500 Read Something New! Age-group: 8-12 Registration fee: Rs. 1,200 for members; Rs. 2,200 for non-members (complimentary six-month gold membership with each registration) Storytelling with Varsha: Postponed from 15th August 2014 to 23rd August 2014 Age-group: […]
Read Something New!
Back to British Library with my next reading workshop! Dates: 17th August, 24th August, 7th September and 14th September Time: 3 pm – 5 pm Age-group: 9-12 Registration fee: Rs. 1,200 for members; Rs. 2,200 for non-members (You get a complimentary Gold 6-month membership free when you register) See you there!
Winding Up – Creepy House Reading Challenge
Today, I will be part of the award distribution, the final get-together of all the participants of the Creepy House Reading Challenge at the British Library, Pune. Four workshops over the course of two months with children aged anywhere between 5 and 13. What fun it was! We’ll talk about what we learned, how we […]
British Library Workshops
Express Yourself!
Sigh. And that’s the end of another fun workshop at the British Library! We played, we laughed, we shared ideas. For once, I honestly believe the children enjoyed the workshop more than I did. One child had to explain the word ‘FREEZE’. The rules were – no acting, no translating, no using the words ‘ice’, […]
My next workshop is tomorrow!
A custom-made workshop for the Reading Challenge at the British Library! Yes, each of these cards is hand-made. Each card contains a word from the Creepy House Reading Challenge. I’ve lost count of how many cards I made.
Inspired by Taboo!
The next workshop I’m doing at the British Library promises to be fun! My father got a rubber stamp saying ‘VARSHA SESHAN’ long, long ago. I kept it safely. I visited a bookshop about six months ago and impulsively bought a stamp pad, but did not use it. I bought chart paper to make a […]
‘What happens next?’ at British Library
The afternoon’s workshop at the British Library began with a presentation that helped the eight children understand the mood of terror. Sights and sounds, ghosts, enormous spiders, zombies, mummies and pirates found their way into ideas children expressed before they began to write. And then, I gave them their prompt – The crows cried out […]
‘Show and Tell’ at British Library
At the first of today’s workshops at the British Library, children in the age-group 5-7 brought their favourite toys to talk about. There were two little creatures called Sita and Gita. A boy made up a story about how squeaky Sita and jingly Gita walked into his room while he was asleep. He was frightened, […]
British Library Workshop
Day One: Colour your Thoughts
At the British Library workshop for the 5-7 age-group today, I read out a story about a black dog. Mr Hope is afraid of the black dog because it’s as big as a tiger. Mrs Hope is afraid of the black dog because it is as big as an elephant. Adeline Hope is afraid of the […]
Colour your Ideas
My first workshop as part of the Creepy House Reading Challenge is this Sunday! A workshop for the little ones (age 5-7), I call it … Read Aloud and Colour your Thoughts! Sunday 12th January, 2014. 11:00 am – noon Stories are always more fun when they have pictures. When they have more pictures, they […]
British Library Workshops
As part of the Reading Challenge organised by the British Library, I will be conducting four workshops! Age-group 5-7 Read Aloud and Colour your Thoughts! 12th January, 2014 Stories are always more fun when they have pictures. When they have more pictures, they are more interesting! So read a story, or listen to a story […]
Day Five – Reading was Fun!
And that was the end of that. Photographs will come soon, I’m sure. But right now, my head is filled with all kinds of thoughts. Children are like magpies. They love shiny things. All of them loved the golden tape I took with me to bind their work together. I thought they’d like to use […]