Exhibition on: A Child's corner at home!

 

A CHILD’S CORNER IN EVERY HOME

All pre-school children possess a collection of toys, books, drawings and other paper craft items. A child needs a physical space to locate these belongings and use them in the way they want.

A child’s corner in a home is a place, where pre-school children can spend his or her time engaging with their toys, books, paper crafts etc.

Child’s corner brings together the children and parents for having family times. When a child and parent meet in a child’s corner, there can be a friendly and leisurely time of playing with a child, reading a book or joining in with another child in his or her play activities. It is during such times, parents can get to know their child and a child to his or her parents, differently from other times. The conversation and turn taking that take place during such times would have lasting impact in a child’s development. This promotes parenting skills.

It is good for parents to find a storage space for toys, from which some toys are displayed in the child’s corner every week. These toys go back into the storage space and another set of toys are placed in the child’s corner. It is good to give children the choice of some toys each week.

Designing a child’s corner could be done as a creative activity, between parents and their child. Different designs for a child’s corner depending upon the child’s age are provided in the YouTube link below:

Build to Belong Series: Child's corner at home during COVID time: https://youtu.be/1eONrsUbwkA

 

Thank you for visiting us.

Department of Developmental Paediatrics, MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery. 

On the Occasion of the exhibition on a Child’s Corner on 14 June, 2021, in connection with the 11^th Anniversary of the department. 

The above pictures of the display of articles made in the department drew the attention of many and collected the articles of their interest on making a contribution for th especial fund of the department which is used to support children who require concession for the hospital charges. 

Since we started with an annual Christmas Cheer display of articles made in the department in 2013, this annual feature got discontinued for two years during the COVID season. We revived it in connection with the tenth anniversary of the department and this one marks the eleventh year of the department. 

Th advent of this way of connecting with the community at the MOSC Medical College, started from a suggestion from Dr Rejit Cherian, currently a Paediatric Othopedician, at MOSC Medical College. I happened to meet him, when he was a resident in the hospital in 2012. Anna and I had joined the hospital in September 2012. Shortly thereafter, Rejit having heard about us, came to welcome us to MOSC and suggested that we do something to connect with the community at MOSC. That is how Rejit helped us to organise the first staff-student Badminton match in 2013. Susan, who was the psychologist in the department, took the initiative to organise the first Christmas Cheer in 2013. Subsequently came the opportunity to have a  student group, where about ten medical students got attached to us during the time of the first Dean of the college, Dr Radhakrishan.  

I feel grateful for these experiences, as we would not have got integrated into the life of the community ordinarily. The specialty of Developmental Paediatrics is not among the departments where the undergraduates visit normally. The opportunity to connect with the rest of tree faculty is also ordinarily less. I remember taking some initiative to organise a Paediatric Neurology clinical meeting twice a month, which continued for two years. We organised T shirt design competition, Logo design competition, and anniversary meetings. Among all these activities, it was the display of materials made in the department during the annual Christmas Cheer, which brought people together.

I feel grateful for the efforts the members of the staff in the department put into for preparing for this event. It is a time of experiencing the joy of working together and sharing our resources to support families, who need financial assistance to avail services for their children. 

As I prepare to close my 11 years of association at the end of June 2023,  these memories of connecting with the community at MOSC Medical College and working together to express our mindfulness towards families and children stay with me as treasurable experiences. 

The idea of campaigning for creating a Child's Corner in every home originated during the COVID season, when children were home bound. It is a mission Anna and I hope to pursue during the years ahead of us. 

The season of association with MOSC Medical College comes to an end for Anna and myself. We are now at the threshold of another season in life!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)