Out-of-the-box Learning: Rohit Sabnis

What was the idea behind Bazinga Box?
After studying in New Zealand for a decade, I realised, that even though the Indian education system is excellent at honing fundamental and technical skills such as reading, writing and number- counting from a very early age, the New Zealand education system was better at teaching life skills like creativity and helping kids to think out of the box.

Keeping this in mind, I decided to introduce interesting activities. One such example is tapping creative expressions, by designing a game which involves expressing thoughts, ideas and feelings through art, design, music and role-playing. These activities target hard as well as soft skills, while making kids (ages 4-8 years old) curious and teaching them how to question.

What does Bazinga Box teach?
We teach and develop all-round skills in order to facilitate the holistic development of kids. We focus on language skills and mathematical abilities (through number operations, relationships and combinations). As for science, young children are often called natural scientists. Their inclination to be curious, explore, ask questions and develop their own theories about how the world works makes science an important domain for enhancing learning and school readiness. We also teach and develop skills like drawing and craft work, through various activities included in the box, in order to introduce them to new avenues. Social skills, are also taught through interactive activities.

Our Christmas special includes a fun experiment that promotos science and discovery through an experiment to create a snowstorm in a bottle, an opportunity for creative expression by building a socky snowman, a match-making card game with multiple difficulty levels that involves physical activity, a rhyming adaptation of the ant and the grasshopper that promotes language development and more.

How does it fit into the scheme of education?
We are an extension of school learning. We focus more on developing skills like decision-making, creativity, which might not be covered by formal education. Bazinga Box is independent of conventional education and syllabi. Instead we follow our trademark 'Bazinga Framework' which combines hard and soft skills through four Es: Exploring, Engaging, Educating and Enriching. A good example is, "Make your own soap" where we provide all the materials for kids to make their own soap with different shapes, sizes, colours as well as essences. While this activity is fun and exposes them to craft and motor skills, it also teaches them about hygiene as they can start to use the very soap they have created.

How does a Bazinga kid benefit?
Bazinga kids get to engage with unstructured play and thus learn life concepts in an extremely fun way. While kids are completely involved in the various activities, they get 'hands on' style of experience, which helps children understand concepts in a more comprehensive way than books/lectures in schools. We give them a wider exposure to everyday things and a chance to develop their soft skills, like values, emotional intelligence and communication skills.

Is Bazinga reteaching what is taught in schools?
Some of the concepts taught in school are reinforced in a more fun and open environment like physical development, which is also taught in schools. Bazinga Box adds a twist to this by involving active interaction through games that encourage co-ordination, control, movement and health awareness.

How is Bazinga Box different?
At Bazinga Box, we spend a lot of time putting together high-quality science experiments, thought- provoking games and communication techniques for children. Furthermore, we invite parents to contribute their own ideas for our future boxes, while giving them credit. Over time, we want to become a one-stop shop for Indian parents looking for constructive activities.

How are activity sessions held on BB?
Parents and after-school activity organisers have independently started to order Bazinga Boxes, and conduct these activities at home and in their centres. These boxes can be easily ordered on the website and are delivered at home.