Friday, April 2, 2010

Fun With Colors

That was the title of the Cantaloupe's project in the Science Fair held recently in her school. What can I say ... she had so much fun ... 15 mins into the fair, she was marketing her booth and attracting visitors.
I had registered to participate alone ... but later realised it would improve her team spirit enrolled another classmate of hers in her booth.( I was just a little apprehensive on if she will be able to hold her booth alone for almost 2 hrs ) The concept was simple ... understand / explain Primary Colors and Secondary colors. But the fun part was mixing Primary color paint for every guest who stopped by their booth and show them their desired Secondary color. It was more fun than expected I tell ... nothing to beat dirtying themselves ... in this case with a purpose and parent approval :)
We had to set up the booth in the morning ... so Cantaloupe and I went in early around 8:00am and set up our booth. We felt lucky for being allocated a booth close to entrance. We set up our booth and came back home. The fair was to begin at 6:30pm ... and it began sharp on time. Our cardboard display looked so colorful .... we were extremely pleased. The girls were all excited and didn't know what to expect since it was their first year in school. In fact I was clueless on what to expect as well .... but there were almost 160 odd booths that I was more excited than the kids. I have to add here, the last time I participated in science fair was during my school days.... and this event brought back all those lovely memories.
There were mentors assigned to all booths who would evaluate the project. There were no prizes to be rewarded .... the idea behind inviting mentors was to evaluate the understanding of the projects ... age appropriateness of the chosen project and also to see if the kids were indeed having fun.
Cantaloupes' mentor was the first to arrive to their booth. The girls were giggling and having fun posing for the pictures when the mentor arrived and they were somewhat unprepared for his arrival. But they did just fine explaining the concept. I was glad the mentor realised how much fun they were having while mixing colors. ( they did not even hear his say, good job ... they were too busy mixing colors). They were given a science project idea book and a certificate. Cantaloupe's first ever certificate !!! And boy was she happy to receive one ! The evaluation went great.
Once the mentor left ... I advised the girls to just add few drops of paint and mix instead of mixing a plateful as they had just shown to the mentor. Slowly the crowd started gathering ... and people started visiting our booth. 15 mins into the fair, Cantaloupe had loosened up and started inviting random people passing by if they'd be interested in learning about colors. Most people were surprised the enthusiasm and appreciated the kids for their efforts. It was funny how Cantaloupe soon learnt tricks to attract people ... she offered a colored plate of their choice as a token :) After about an hour into the fair, Cantaloupe's partner started loosing interest ... and wanted to go to her sister's booth. (she had an elder sister from 5th grade who had a booth set up as well) Cantaloupe managed the entire show the whole time. Poor girl ... she wanted to look around the auditorium and learn about other projects ... but could never leave her booth. Later I learnt, it was ok to leave the booth to visit other booths. The outside rain did not dampen the spirits of the participants or visitors ... I think there was a turn out of over 400 people !!!
I learnt some new concepts myself at the fair .... I'd love to have visited all the booths ... but that just didn't happen.
I came home very satisfied ... Cantaloupe sure made me proud that day and I simply loved this concept of science fairs !

13 comments:

Swaram said...

Reminds me of my school days too .. what fun it used to be :)

Luved the concept of mixing colours .. C managed it all on her own and had fun ... thatz so nice to know :)

Its so nice to relive our memories with the kids no :)

Swaram said...

Oh eh, congratulations on her very first certificate :)

Sands said...

That is so cool. Congratulations to cantaloupe not just for doing and awesome job, having fun and getting a certificate but also learning the art of luring people to her booth :)

Average Jane said...

Wow! Can sense the excitement from your post. Good job, C and everyone.

The Print Lover said...

LOL at their excitement inspite of the mentor;s arrival. And the color plate offer :)

Good job Cantaloupe and CA.

Anonymous said...

Congrats CA for her very first certificate. Hats off to her enthusiasm....Btw, how are you, long since I visited here...
Aryan's mom

Lakshmi said...

That was some real fun with learning, interacting with people etc. Cantaloupe is a budding child with lot of enthusiasm, way to go :)

Cantaloupes.Amma (CA) said...

@Swaru: School days were truly fun na ... and I am hoping to relive those days through my daughters :)

@Sands: Trust me ... wooing people to her booth is something she learnt by herself ... that surprised me quite a bit!

@AJ: You bet I am excited ... and was exhausted more than Cantaloupe !!

Cantaloupes.Amma (CA) said...

@TPL : Thanks !! They presented much better 10 mins into the fair than they did to their mentor ... I was glad the mentor recognised their excitement ....

Cantaloupes.Amma (CA) said...

@Aryan's mom: *Waves Hi* How have you been ?? I have to catch up on your blog soon :)

@Lakshmi: Thanks ! End of it she announced She loved "Science" ... I think that is one goal achieved.

Arundhati said...

Looks like some of C's enthusiasm has rubbed off on u. And ur excitement is so infectious I'm getting all :) :) too !!

Hip Grandma said...

please congratulate your little girl on my behalf.Reading about the project was fun and i cam imagine the great time she'd have had.

The Reluctant Mum said...

My first time here. And I think it took me at least 10 minutes to get past your gorgeous gorgeous header. Blog rolling you, will come back :)

 

My circle of life with BP, Cantaloupe and Junior and much more | Desenvolvido por EMPORIUM DIGITAL