CHENNAI: What do you do when a toy stops working, or a household appliance breaks down? Instead of throwing it away, Repair Cafe Chennai encourages children and parents to open it up, understand what went wrong, and try to fix it together.

When Repair Cafe began its activities in Chennai two years ago, there were plenty of doubts about how the idea would be received. Since then, the initiative has conducted several workshops, including sessions aimed at children and has been holding them once every three months.

The next children’s Repair Cafe will be held on October 10 at Casa Grande Elan, Thazhambur, from 10 am to 1 pm.

The sessions are open to children above eight, accompanied by a parent. They can bring two or three items from home, such as small electrical appliances or remote-controlled cars. With the help of mentors, the parent and child work together to open the item, troubleshoot the problem and attempt to get it working again.

For Meena, who has been driving the Repair Cafe initiative in Chennai, the workshops are as much about building confidence as they are about repairing things.

“Children get to work with their hands, understand how things work and learn how to repair them. At the same time, they get the satisfaction of fixing something that may otherwise have been thrown away, while picking up a useful new skill,” she says.

The initiative has also collaborated with schools, conducting workshops for students, and has held sessions in association with Goethe-Institut. The idea is to give children an opportunity to understand how everyday objects work instead of being afraid to open them up.

“When something breaks at home, both the parent and child will have the confidence to at least try and understand what has gone wrong,” Meena says.

She believes that basic repair skills can only be learned through experience. Her son has participated in the workshops, giving her an opportunity to see how the experience can build over time.

“The more you practise, the deeper the skill gets. We also tell those who have attended our workshops to come back again. The idea is to lose the fear and learn the techniques,” she says.

Repair Cafes have become community spaces in several countries, where people come together to repair everyday objects rather than discard them.

Participants can bring items ranging from clothes and furniture to electrical appliances, bicycles and crockery, while volunteers with repair skills offer guidance and access to tools and materials.

In Chennai, the initiative is now taking that idea to younger participants, hoping to teach a familiar skill from an early age.