The boys of Bosco Boys Home, (BBH) Borivali were treated to a 3 day session on craftopia by Ms. Eleesha D’souza,a Fashion stylist, who has worked with production houses like Sharp Pencils, Fantom Films, Good Fellas, Wise Guy and Excel Media and Entertainment from 25th May to 27th May, 2019.

 Craftopia is a brainchild of Ms. Larrisa and Ms. Eleesha The two have completed their Masters in Home Science. Ms. D’souza. is currently a Lecturer at The Synthetic and Art Silk Mills’ Research Association (Sasmira)  and guest lecturer at various Fashion design colleges; as well a full time hobbyist. “Maid of Honor” is a bridal wear brand conceptualized by her which offers gowns, gift articles and wedding accessories. Whereas Ms. D’mello has been part of an NGO that trains teachers for the past 4 years and actively conducts Camps for kids during vacations.

The Day 1 theme was Vegetable printing on Cloth bags. Day 2 the boys learned how to make Pop-up Cards and on the last day the boys participated in making Clay Moulding Craft.

“Fabric printing is an extensive process usually not for children. We have simplified the activity using cut vegetables and paint to accomplish this task. This activity focused on the sense of sight. Engagement of sight with various colours, shapes and texture. Varied sizes of potatoes were used by the children, with shapes cut out. The children found this activity very interesting and made good final products out of the art. Pop-up cards are a very creative way wishing anyone. Handmade cards gives one the opportunity to express themselves and adds a unique flavour to that expression. This activity explores the sense of touch & sight. Sight helps with the placement of artworks and touch helps in the additional of various tactile textures. The children brought with them a number of ideas and plans to make a different card. The children were taught a simple paper cutting and folding technique. They filled the rest of the card with some crayons, sketch pens and a lot of imagination. Clay moulding is a sense of touch activity. It helps children develop their fine sensory motor skills. Clay moulding is one of the most enjoyable activities for children. Mixing, rolling and moulding clay takes a lot of time and effort which the children accomplished with very little trouble. They made small display bowls out of air drying clay and painted it in various colours.” Shared Ms. D’souza

Pratik Gade, a 5 standard boy said, “Thanks Eleesha Didi for showing me how to make pop-up cards, now I will use this method to make Welcome, Thank you and Birthday cards.”

Dn. Romero D’Souza the Prefect of Studies of the boys while explaining the concept behind this session shared, “Craftopia’s Summer Sensation is an elaborate series of activities planned for children to understand and hone all the 5 senses while learning a new craft each time. These activities are a good way for children to enjoy and are put their creativity to good use. I thank Eleesha for her kind gesture and spending these 3 days with the boys teaching them and helping them explore their creative talents to the full. ”