Old crayons to get new life, kids new colours

Sujata, who runs Bamboola, a play school and day-care in the city has started a campaign to collect thousands of used crayons across the city, which will then be melted and given a new lease of life. Teachers from the school will visit orphanages around Chennai as well as the Children Cancer Research Centre to conduct art classes leading up to Christmas.

 

“We came up with the initiative after finding out from our school’s kids and parents that they have a lot of leftover crayons at their homes. Children stop using crayons when they are barely halfway done with it and buy new boxes! At our school, most of the art supplies are made in-house so with our staff well-equipped, we figured we could put these used crayons to good use,” said Sujata.

The crayon collection drive started recently and is open until December 20 with people invited to drop them off at the Bamboola premises in RA Puram. “Besides distributing the crayons, our art teachers will also conduct free classes at orphanages across the city. The teachers will also take over a wall at these spaces and create beautiful artwork, with the  help of the kids. This will help the kids feel a sense of ownership of the art and the space,” Sujata said.

She has also requested the Children Cancer Research Centre to let the kids adopt a wall and use the crayons to doodle on it. “We invite volunteers to also join us at the orphanages to teach the kids,” Sujata added.