Baba Dioum, a Senegalese engineer and a renowned forest scientist, once said, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

Today, the world is going through a very alarming situation where rising temperatures are setting new records and environmental hazards have become more common than ever. With each passing year, deforestation is becoming a major threat to our ecosystem. To add to the problems, people are reluctant about this worsening climate emergency. It is for this reason that institutions like Mongrace Montessori House, a Montessori school at Short Street, Camac Street, Kolkata, came up with an innovative idea to organise a programme aimed at teaching children the values of environmental responsibility.

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Every year, Mongrace Montessori House annually celebrates ‘Lit Fest’ where children are encouraged to make and create their own book based on the subject or topic they like. However, this year a new theme, ‘Green Gallery’ was introduced to shift the focus on environmental needs and concerns. Speaking about the intention behind this theme, Sanjana Vakharia, principal of Mongrace Montessori House, stated, “With the deteriorating global condition and complete ecological collapse, we started thinking—what can we do at Mongrace to combat this planetary degradation?” Her objective became clear: foster environmental consciousness at an early age to help children to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility towards creating a greener world.

Mongrace Montessori House adopted a multi-layered approach by incorporating topics related to the green environment into their curriculum. However, instead of simply explaining environmental issues, teachers focused on hands-on activities and experiences to ignite curiosity and empathy in the young minds. “We wanted children to build an emotional connection with the environment, not just academic or cognitive skills. Our objective was to promote love, empathy, and a responsibility towards plants, trees, and a green environment,” added Vakharia.

Continuing with their objective, teachers at Mongrace used art, paintings, drawings and colours to make children aware. Songs about fruits and plants, stories about ‘The Giving Tree,’ picture books, and many types of activities started. ‘Green Gallery’ was chosen as their theme for their ‘Lit Fest 2024’. Under the theme, an important part was creating a terrarium. A terrarium is a glass container containing soil, plants, and other natural elements. It is a small, enclosed ecosystem. Students at Mongrace were encouraged to create their personal terrariums and have hands-on experience like digging, planting, germination, using a spade, watering plants, working with soil, and seed saplings, ultimately learning about the intricate process behind an ecosystem. According to the principal, these terrariums teach children the concept of a self-sustaining ecosystem where plants create their own microenvironment within a glass container.

Children were assigned the role of ‘caregivers’ of their own terrariums, fostering a sense of ownership and also connecting with the green at a personal level. Principal Vakharia explained, “The idea behind creating a terrarium came around April when the city was dealing with rising temperatures and extreme heatwaves. At that time, we thought of introducing children to indoor gardening, creating a safe little space for themselves indoors, as outdoor conditions were not suitable for play.”

Along with the terrariums, children also made their own storybooks. The books of ‘Lit Fest, 2024’ showcase the young author’s love and understanding of the green world. Children crafted the pages with illustrations, writings, and even real leaves that were used for painting, combining art with natural elements. Also, like every year, children were awarded certificates as authors of their own creation, bringing joy and pride to both children and parents.

Principal Vakharia also stressed that developing environmental habits at such a young age can have a lasting impact. “Children at an early age pass through a sensitive period and absorb knowledge naturally. By incorporating these nature-friendly habits early on, they’ll carry forward these values throughout their lives.”

Another standout element for the Green Gallery project is the involvement of parents with children and engaging in eco-friendly practices. Principal Vakharia shared, “As children at our school are very small, they are not able to complete such projects on their own; as a result, parents have to assist them. When parents come together to work on these projects, it leads to an emotional investment and strengthens the bond between them.” Vakharia also focuses on an ‘eco-conscious’ community. “A school alone, a teacher alone, or a child alone cannot bring about a change. To bring about a social and environmental change, the entire community has to work together. When working with children, parents also become aware of the environmental hazards, fostering shared responsibility to protect the planet and creating a sustainable future for generations to come.” she added.

This year the Lit Fest was hosted on Children’s Day, adding a special significance to the Green Gallery theme. The day became a celebration of creativity and environmental awareness as young students showcased their eco-focused projects, making it a memorable experience.