As the country went into lockdown, children found themselves with an indefinite holiday. A few days later, many schools started online classes and sent study packs, but still the children were faced with an unusual situation. They had much free time with the added bonus of having parents and the whole family at home, but were restricted and could not hang out with friends or visit them and relatives. But children are resilient and resourceful, and they found their own creative solutions to the lockdown.
We feature here how some of these children spent lockdown creatively and fruitfully.
Quarantine and life
I won’t deny that the quarantine period was boring; it was! Almost every one of us had to withdraw from our daily lives to spend time concealed and locked within four walls. It is really tough and challenging to continue our usual lives from that position. The world is currently at the pause button. But should it necessarily mean that we should pause too? Do we really need to lie down and do nothing at all, waiting for this pandemic to blow over? Think for yourselves.
In my opinion, this quarantine period can be used as an opportunity to discover hidden talents and unleash your creativity. You can use this time to improve on your imagination and do unique things. Get involved in things you never knew you could do. Try to do new things, generate new ideas and theories.
As soon as they announced curfew, my first thoughts were, ‘What to do now?’ I didn’t have much school or class work to do as I had just finished my O/L’s. So, I noted down the things I wanted to do, things I wanted to try out. I self-challenged myself to read all the books (there were quite a few) in my house. That was my first action, because there is no better way to improve your knowledge and creativity than by reading.
I used my time to practise origami, something I have never tried before and it was a fun experience. I also practised a lot on my new drum kitto improve my musical skills. I also spent my time studying scrabble words and playing online tournaments. But most of the time, I was generating ideas to write a new book.
Writing is one of my favoured hobbies and I used this time effectively to come up with an original idea, which was not easy at all, and to do illustrations for my work.
All of a sudden, I had so many things to do. Online sessions were conducted by the school and classes, and there were piles of homework to do. It was actually quite a challenge to balance all my activities. Honestly, I found the quarantine period not long enough to complete my work! It had distracted me from the dreadful pandemic! Therefore, I would like to urge you to try new things. Write a book, read a novel, and if you have any exams coming up, study for them. Because, it is you who make a difference in the world. Believe in that and most importantly be safe during these trying times and help to conceal the pandemic from our lives!
Imeth de Silva,
Grade 12,
S. Thomas’ College,
Mt. Lavinia.
How I spent lockdown
March12 th was the last day I went to school. When we were coming home my mother told me I have a long holiday. Then, at night we watched TV and I heard on the news that the April holiday has started. Actually, this is not the April holiday but our country went into lockdown to prevent the spreading of the Covid-19 virus.
Then, during the next few days I watched many cartoons. After a while, I got very bored. Then, I thought of growing some vegetables.The next day, I took some old seed packets and I prepared some pots to grow plants. I put two seeds in a on pot.
Every day I got up early and watered the plants. After two three days, I saw that the plants were germinating. Then, I thought to grow some more plants to get a better harvest.
Now,I have become a little farmer, I have grown various vegetables. Raddish, longbeans, ladies fingers, cow pea, pumpkin, chillies, winged beans and snake gourd are some of them. On my last vacation in Qatar, I brought some cantaloupe seeds. I have cantaloupe creepers with very big leaves and many flowers.
Earlier, I bathed in the bathroom because I was very busy. Due to this lockdown season I have more time to spend as I wish. So,I have started to bathe from the well. It is very interesting to have a bath in a natural environment. With the passing of time, my school has given some assignments and I haven’t missed doing them. I didn’t forget to help my mother when she was cooking. We have tried to make delicious food. Whatever I did at home, I made up my mind not to go outside.
Considering this lockdown season, I felt this was causing problems for some people but it was a really blessing for me to change my life in a meaningful manner.
S.N. Sasrutha
Nayanathul Dias,
Grade 6, Sussex College,
Kuliyapitiya Branch.
What I did during lockdown
I was extremely happy that I got to stay home with my parents during the lockdown. But sadly, after one month they had to go to work as they were engaged in essential duties. But still, my aunt was at home.
The curfew started when we were about to have school holidays. However, during holidays, we had to download this app called ‘Google Classroom’. Our teachers upload school work on this software application for us to work during the time we stay at home. At the same time, we had to attend online classes on Zoom.
There were some funny moments in the class, when our teacher ran out of internet, where she suddenly disappeared from the class. So, all my friends started wondering what happened to our teacher. Like magic our teacher returned five minutes later and she continued the class. When I was free, I would end up watching YouTube, playing my PS4 and exercising. I get entertained by my family and I entertained my family by playing board games.
During this time, I also learnt a lot about health care and hygiene. I also got to celebrate Vesak with my neighbours maintaining social distancing while also wearing a mask. I also exercised by walking with my neighbour friend, Lahan, while maintaining social distancing.
I also finally got a chance to re – build my hot wheels track. We even celebrated our friend Anya’s birthday in a Zoom call. I would frequently call and video call my friends and they lasted 30 minutes – one hour and this is much more than my earlier calls. But then I realised lockdown wasn’t so bad, besides the excruciating fatalities.
I feel, that this unprecedented Corona virus has given a great chance to Mother Nature to rejuvenate while lockingdown human activities globally. Not only that, it has also taught all human beings (rich or poor ) how to lead a simple life with minimum facilities.
Kavindrra Samarasekera,
Grade 6 I,
Colombo International School.