Namma Arcot Road takes off with a bang

Great start ! Great turnout! Great support !

This is only the beginning folks...We are here to stay!

Keep the last Saturday of every month free - there will be something happening at Arcot Road.

Countdown to Namma Arcot Road

4 days to go....

Plans for making Arcot Road and the areas around it (Ashok Nagar, KK Nagar, Vadapalani, Virugambakkam, Valsarawakkam etc) a happening place came about after the success we’ve had with Madras Day celebrations at Hotel Green Park the past few years, especially last year and this year.

And it is now happening !

our venture 'Namma Arcot Road' is all set to take off on Oct 2 at Hotel Green Park at 11am.

See you there.

Raising Readers Workshop: Sept 27 – Oct 1

Spring and Zoom in partnership with ‘The ilovereadin Library’ owned by Life Online, a firm incubated and supported by C TIDES, IIT Madras, organizes: ‘Raising Readers Workshop’

Help your child discover the wonderful world of books and become an enthusiastic lifelong reader through co-scholastic activities.

Dates: Sept 27 – Oct 1

Age group: 6-8
Time: 9am to 10am

Age Group: 9-11
Time: 10.30am to 12.30pm

Venue: Zoom Kids Playschool & Activity Center, 61-A, R.K. Shanmugam Salai, K.K.Nagar, Chennai 600078

Limited seats. Register soon : springandzoom@gmail.com

Madras Day Celebrations at Hotel Green Park

Poppy Pops Up Again!

Here's a video from the Musical Theatre Workshop we had with Poppy Aunty on 14th August.

Spring and Zoom Learning Workshop Series: 19, Sept 2010

'Square it Up' an action-filled math workshop by math enthusiast Vinatha Sridhar founder member of Numerogym. Hands-on activities and games highlight the relationship between numbers and geometry to prove that square is the base for puzzles and art. Age: 9-12 years, Time:10.30 am -12.45 pm

Theatre Workshop, by R .Amarendran, the founder and director of Chennai-based theatre group Theatre Arlequin. Instructor-led interactive session using physical exercises to equip participants with techniques to lose their inhibitions, articulate and communicate better as they creatively explore characters in a play. Age: 13-16 years, Time:1.30 - 5.30pm

Venue: 103 A, Arcot Road, Saligramam
Batch size: 20 persons
Email: springandzoom@gmail.com

Project Arcot Road: Our New Venture

The events we organised at Hotel Green Park on 22nd August as part of the Madras Day celebrations was such a great hit despite the rain. The crowd comprised of people from all over the city. This encouraged us to go ahead with our plan to do more for Arcot Road, so we decided to have a brainstorming session, with journalists Vincent D'Souza and Sashi Nair as our sounding boards.

Sunday morning, we received a call from a lady in Mylapore asking about the activities we organise as she had read about us in Mylapore Times. Do read Vincent's piece and volunteer if interested. We've already formed a core group of seven people.

Happy Birthday, Madras!

Despite inclement weather on August 22, what a turnout we had at Hotel Green Park on Madras Day! Thank you so much, parents and children, for braving the weather and making it all happen.

Let the pictures speak for themselves...

Be Proud of Your City's Heritage

Calling all children and parents to be part of Madras Day events.

Venue: Hotel Green Park

Date: Sunday, 22 August, 2010

An Evening with Poppy

Poppy's come, Poppy's gone,
Poppy prattled on and on.
She wandered left, she wandered right,
But then she found her way, alright.
And when she did, we have to say,
She really held us in her sway.

If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.

We think Dr. Seuss says it all with the above quote. Here are a few pictures from the workshops we've conducted in the past.

A Reading Workshop

Madras Day Celebrations at Hotel Green Park, 2008

The Spooks are out on Halloween!

Madras Day Celebrations: An Animal Puppet-making Workshop at Hotel Green Park, 2009

Trip to Vedanthangal

Now, what have the kids spotted...?

Aaah, Painted Storks!

Storytelling with Jeeva Aunty

A Chocolate-Making Workshop

So, what are we making today?

Yum! It's my turn now!

Sing-Along with Jeeva Aunty

Get Creative: Children trying their hands at Kollam

Theatre Time

Sultans of Swing: A Dance Workshop

It's time for our second workshop!

Musical Theatre for Kids
with
Devyani ‘Poppy’ Aunty

Music & Movement is an interactive social process for children to experience rich language in a pleasurable way. What better way to gain knowledge and confidence than through musical theatre workshop?

Date: 14 , August 2010

Resource person: Renowned theatre personality Devyani ‘Poppy’ Aunty with 20 years experience in music and drama.

Time: 1.30 to 5.30pm

Venue: 103 A, Arcot Road, Saligramam

Information and Registration: springandzoom@gmail.com

'Poppy' Aunty in the news!

The Hindu, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle

Kid's Views

One Day at a Creative Workshop

It was a Sunday. The morning was overcast and grey. This was my day to be spent at a creative workshop along with my friends. It was held at the M.G.R. Janaki School in Arcot Road . The workshop was organised by two wonderful people, Binita aunty and Gargi aunty. Srivi aunty conducted the workshop. I left home with my bag filled with paints, palette, old newspapers, pencil box and, of course, my little lunch bag.

There were 19 of us and we were split into groups. We all started off by playing a game called Story Pond. It was fun.

It was amazing what we could come up with during Creative Time.

Each of us was told to draw a monster. I ended up drawing a two headed demon. I thought he looked scary. By then it was lunch time and we all sat around in the auditorium and opened our lunch bags. I was really hungry.

We then had to write and illustrate a story. The title of my story was The Intelligent King. My story was about the Jungle King, a lion, saving the forest from being cut down. The King was worried that there were no rains and the forest kept disappearing. So he finally chased away the wood cutters and along with all the animals protected the forest.

My friend Varun wrote about a football game with his friends. My other friend Nishi wrote a story about a day at the beach.

We displayed our work at the end and our parents were quite proud of what we’d done.We all enjoyed our day at the creative workshop. I hope we can do this again.

Pranav Jayaram

V A

Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School

Chennai

Check us out in Arcot Road Times!

Here's an article about Spring and Zoom in Arcot Road Times, dated July 26th, 2010!

For anyone who's confused, "Creative Brain" isn't another pet project, thank God. It's the name we initially gave ourselves. We consequently found it oh-so-boring and changed it to "Spring and Zoom". Hope that's creative enough for you. :)

Creative Writing and Book-Making Workshop (Held on July 18th, 2010)

This was the first in the series of workshops planned by us. We believe that exposure to story books and experiences what makes a learner. We also believe that reading and writing go together and learning one helps the other. The full-day, Creative Writing and Book-Making Workshop, primarily focused on using techniques to stimulate every child’s kinesthetic, visual and auditory senses. Guided by the resource person through various steps of picture book writing, the 6- 12 year olds, came up with stories that were uniquely their own. Indeed, they enjoyed the whole experience in the serene and green venue in the heart of K.K.Nagar. The evening ended with the proud parents gathering under the mango tree, to watch their children proudly exhibit the storybooks written and illustrated by them.