Literary adventures for kids

CHENNAI: Storytelling, quizzes, interactive workshops, play reading, monologues, guest lectures...wouldn’t literature be more fun for kids with these elements incorporated into it? The Alchemy Arts & Education Foundation was born out of this idea and launched on January 24, 2020 by Vijay Viswanathan, theatre practitioner and educationist.

“My wife and I realised that literature was losing its sheen. It is being treated as a language subject in schools. We wanted kids to explore the fun aspects of literature through a set of activities. One among the key concepts is READ ON, a Children’s Literature Festival to celebrate the literary works of authors, playwrights and writers.

The kids are divided into two age groups juniors (aged 4-7) and seniors (aged 8-14). We’ve also planned programmes for parents,” explains Vijay, the founder and managing director. The three-and-a-half month virtual festival was inaugurated on August 16 by Geeta Ramanujam, a storyteller at Kathalaya.

The hour-long session will be held on their official Facebook page every Sunday starting from the coming week, and is expected to culminate on November 14, 2020. “Each week will have a different topic. The festival aims at encouraging students to explore, appreciate and perform the different styles of texts from literature. We have 130 registrations so far,” he said.