Our Skate and Create program provides children with an hour of skateboarding and an hour of creative, arts-based education. Students in our Skate and Create program follow four curriculums per year. The curriculum is adapted for the context of each location, but in each quarter, all of our four Skate Schools will be following the same outline. Lesson plans aim to help children explore their creativity, exercise critical thinking skills, discover new talents and areas of interest and to understand their own role in making the world a better place. 

From April to July this year, our students were studying the Natural Balance curriculum, which explores the cycles of the natural world and our place within it. Here’s a quick summary of some of our favorite lessons from this quarter.

Health and Nutrition: At all sites, students learned about the importance of nutrition for their health, and understood how to keep their food intake in balance to be more healthy. In Cambodia, this included sampling some of the local fruits from the market and matching them to the parts of the body they are most beneficial for.

Hygiene: In Kabul, students learned about the immune system and personal hygiene habits such as washing their hands to prevent getting sick. Students used glitter on their hands to visualize how germs can spread from one person to another.

Recycled Gardens: In Johannesburg, students learned how to reuse plastic bottles and created their very own hanging gardens from recycled materials. This lesson teaches the students many skills. They learn about the dangers of plastics, but also how to reuse items to make something new. Children also learn about planting seeds and helping things to grow, plus they got to take their hanging plant pots home to brighten up their own places.

Royal Throne: In Mazar, this lesson’s aim was to improve student’s self esteem by talking about each other’s positive aspects, and thinking about everyone’s unique talents. This is a really important lesson in kindness, that helps children treat their friends and family members well, but also helps them to see themselves through the eyes of others.

Dental Hygiene: In Phnom Penh, students learned how and why we brush our teeth. After they finished the lesson, educators gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste to take home to inspire them to keep practicing, as well as passing on the lesson to family members. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this round up of what our Skate and Create students have been learning about. Every day is different in the Skateistan classrooms and we’ve now moved on to learning about Science and Innovation. Stay tuned for updates! 

We believe that creative education is a powerful tool for empowering children and helping them to shape a better future for themselves. If you share our vision, please consider supporting Skateistan today with a donation, or by joining the Citizens of Skateistan.