Anganwadi Kids Turn Classrooms into Art Studios in Bandipora

Marium Fayaz

Bandipora, August 13 — In a corner of north Kashmir where Anganwadi centres often make headlines for neglect and shortage of supplies, this week they stood out for something far more colourful — and hopeful.

With Independence Day around the corner, children from several Anganwadi centres in Bandipora district traded their routine alphabet lessons for brushes, crayons, and coloured paper, turning their modest classrooms into makeshift art studios.

The activity, part of the nationwide ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, saw little hands crafting heartfelt tributes to the tricolour — from flower-studded flags to bottle and clay art, from pottery to paintings of freedom fighters, and from paper cut-outs of soldiers to other creative expressions.

District Programme Officer (ICDS) Yar Ali Khan, while speaking to Kashmir Convener, said the art event was not just about creativity, but about planting seeds of civic pride and patriotism early through the use of colors. “Children easily understand and identify colors, and here they painted their artwork in the tricolor. The objects they colored reflected our heritage — such as the samovar, boat, hearth, baskets, tumbakhnari, and shikara — so that children also become familiar with their cultural roots.”

The participating centres included AWC Shadipora Payeen, where a flag was made entirely of flowers; AWC Bhat Mohalla Shadipora, which showcased a ‘Poshan Matka’; AWC Kawapora Payeen, where children painted their homes in tricolour themes; Shilvat Ghat, which displayed traditional heritage items like wicker made baskets, Hearth, Shikara etc; AWC Malikpora Panzinara, known for its bottle art; and AWC Arampora and Ganai Mohalla Palhanan, where flags took centre stage.

“Through art, we wanted the children to connect emotionally with the idea of India and understand why the flag is a symbol of unity and sacrifice besides making them familiar about their heritage throught models of Shikara, Tumbhaknari, Baskets, Samavor etc,” said an Anganwadi worker, watching her students proudly hold up their work.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Anganwadi centres — the first rung of the government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) — serve as preparatory schools for children aged 3 to 6, while also tracking their growth, nutrition, and early learning.

Though often plagued by inadequate infrastructure, these centres are crucial in shaping the social and cognitive foundations of rural children through a play-way method of learning.

As part of the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, the initiative joins district-wide flag-hoisting ceremonies, cultural programmes, and awareness drives. But in the quiet corners of these classrooms, the children’s art spoke in a language brighter than slogans — one of hope, belonging, and the belief that even the smallest citizens have a place in the nation’s story.