Khalsa Kids Unplugged is a unique initiative that was started by Priyal Anand and her dad Ravdeep Singh about three years ago in Westborough Gurdwara, MA.
Priyal said,” We all go to Khalsa School, get to know other Sikh kids, and develop friendships from a very young age. However, as I approached high school, I felt it would have been extremely helpful if I had an older friend whom I could reach out to, ask questions, and discuss things like what classes to take, and how to address issues that might arise in high school.” This gave her the idea of starting something that would solve the above issues. That’s how she incorporated her idea to start Khalsa Kids Unplugged.
Khalsa Kids Unplugged encourages the older and younger Khalsas to hang out together, have fun, and also learn about Sikhi. In doing so, it bridges the gap between older and younger kids and helps them develop a bond. A bond of Big and Little Khalsas, helping them build long term friendships where they can be there to support each other.
This May, our Gurdwara held a virtual Khalsa Kids Unplugged program organized by Priyal and her dad. This was a great alternative to the typical unplugged event that used to take place in the past, given the circumstances. Overall, 30 kids participated in two different age groups. One age group was 5th grade and under, and the other one was 6th grade and older.
The younger age kids (5th grade & under) session was held on May 2nd and the older age kids (6th grade & older) session was held on May 9th. During this month’s sessions, they focused on the Sakhi about Guru Harkrishan Sahib ji and his love & respect for nature. Both the older and younger kids learned about this but did different activities with it. The younger kids answered questions about the Sakhi while the older kids had a discussion about it and talked about how it relates to modern-day life. Some more things the younger group did was learn about the history of Bangla Sahib, games, trivia, and fun stories. The older kids along with the discussion played jeopardy, Kahoot, and the wheel of fortune. Since it was getting close to Mother’s Day, as an extra activity both age groups made an origami envelope for Mothers’ Day. The next session was held on May 23rd for the younger kids and May 30th for the older kids. These virtual Khalsa kids unplugged sessions are a great way to stay engaged with your Khalsa school friends and to learn more about Sikhi at the same time.
Each month there will be two sessions per age group. However, there will be one session per age group next month to let kids finish up their regular and Khalsa schools. The upcoming session will be on June 20th and 27th respectively. The younger kids on the 20th and the older kids session on the 27th. The younger and older kids will do a sakhi covering something interesting that they might not know. The younger kids will do some more origami as they seemed to have liked that from the previous session as well as some other interactive games. The older kids will do some online games like kahoot and other games. The virtual Khalsa Kids Unplugged sessions have truly been an immensely remarkable initiative to keep so many kids engaged productively and making them learn & have fun simultaneously.
