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A child with dark curly hair sits at a wooden table, wearing a maroon t-shirt with white lettering across the chest. They are leaning forward and drawing on a large sheet of white paper with a black pen. The drawing features a large eye with a black pupil and colorful details around it. The table is covered with art supplies, including scattered pieces of paper, several colored pencils, a box of red crayons, and small packets. Two black remote controls rest on the table near the child's right arm. Behind the child is a bed or sofa covered with a teal sheet, and the floor is made of light-colored tiles.
  • 12 took part
  • 1 facilitator

Saturday 10 October 2026

Breathe, move, create

Facilitated by Aarthi Veerupillai

What the work needed: people, time, money, space and materials.
What went in
Materials: session slides. A Malayalam hand-brain explainer video made with NotebookLM. Crayons, sketch pens, A4 paper, A4 craft paper and glue.
Time
1 hour

What was done with those inputs, step by step.

Our Saturday Curiosity Club fell on World Mental Health Day. This made it a fitting time to explore caring for our thoughts and feelings. We prepared slides, art materials and our first Malayalam explainer video made with NotebookLM. The video was about the hand-brain model. It explained why big feelings can make thinking difficult.

After a rainstorm movement activity, children and facilitators shared their emotional “weather”. We discussed how feelings change. We used think, pair and share to explore when and where big feelings arise.

We talked about making a plan when we can change something. We also talked about coping when it is outside our control. We used three ways to cope: Breathe through bee breathing, Move through gentle movement and a body scan, and Create through art.

For Create, children used crayons to scribble their stress or big feelings onto paper. They pressed down and made marks freely. They tore the paper into smaller pieces. Then they arranged and glued the pieces onto a fresh sheet. This created a design of their choice.

They added words to encourage themselves. The words included “You are amazing”, “Never give up” and “I love you”. The messages children chose surprised us. On the back, they traced a hand. They added people they could reach out to when they needed support.

We closed with a recap of the model and ways to care for our mental health.

What the activity directly produced: sessions held, people reached, things made.
  • 12 Artwork with encouraging messages and trusted-hand drawings

What changed for the people who took part, and what showed it.

Children learned bee breathing and practised movement and an art activity they could try when feeling stressed. During discussion, they were surprised by how similar their experiences of big feelings were.

All children contributed to the closing recap, recalling the hand-brain model and naming ways to respond to big feelings and care for their mental health. They identified people they could approach for support and chose encouraging messages, including “You are amazing”, “Never give up” and “I love you”.

(We observed it)

What the team will keep or change next time.

The Malayalam video engaged the group. The playful “kutti pulli” description of the amygdala drew laughter. The recap helped us check what children remembered. Having facilitators join the weather check-in made it a shared activity.

The encouraging messages children chose surprised us. This reminded us to leave room for their own words and ideas. The creative activity took longer than expected. We completed the recap but missed the weather check-out. Next time, we will leave time for both and revisit the coping strategies in future sessions.

Art and cultureEducationHealthCuriosity ClubOlimalar FoundationAarthi Veerupillaiaikyam space

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