Hundreds of kids and their parents gathered and spent the entire afternoon without glued to their mobile phones or other electronic gadgets at the much awaited Freedom From Gadgets organised by IndiansinKuwait.com and Indian Women in Kuwait - IWIK in association with Al Muzaini Exchange.
The Freedom From Gadgets- Season 4 was held on Friday, 3rd February at the ICSK - Amman Branch , Salmiya from 2 pm till 7 pm. This was the fourth time IIK & IWIK conducted this event.
The program was sponsored by Al Muzaini Exchange Company, and it is with the joint endeavours of the staff of IndiansinKuwait.com and IWIK and the volunteers from Samarpan and Telugu Kala Samiti Associations, that this massive program turned out to be a roaring success. There was neither any entry fee nor any fee to learn and play any of the games. Dedicated volunteers sat and patiently taught the kids the various rules and techniques of the games. The games which were introduced to the kids were: Daadi, Brainvita, Ashta Chamma, Pallamkuzhi, Aadu Puli (tiger and goat game), Gutte, Hopscotch, Carom, Scrabble, Skipping, Spinning Top, Chess, Marbles, and various other Board Games. Mr Kumaran presented a variety of board games like Splendor, Jaipur, Codenames, The Mayor etc.. which all children enjoyed.
To encourage the reading habits in kids, the organizers had also arranged free Books initiatives for kids at the venue. Each and every child at the venue got at least One Free Book to take home to read. The only motive was to encourage the book reading habits in children. We thank all the people who contributed their books for the Book Donation Drive that we had conducted earlier.
For the parents too, it was a trip down the memory lane, as hundreds of parents were visibly excited at spotting the games which they had played with their parents, friends and grandparents but had not had the chance to play them for several years or even to introduce their kids to them.
Other than the traditional and Board Games, there were One Minute to Win it Games. Kids were given tasks that they needed to complete within a minute and the winners got prizes. This was an added attraction to the event.
Many mothers could be seen skipping and playing Hopscotch and Gutte with a child-like delight on their faces, even as fathers were seen wanting to prove that they had not lost their acumen for Marbles and the spinning Top. The parents profusely thanked the organizers for having taken this one-of-a-kind initiative. The kids were seen so happily engrossed in the various games, that not only were they free from gadgets for the entire duration, but even otherwise, there were hardly any scenes of throwing tantrums or getting bored or crying over something or the other. In fact, the kids were plainly reluctant to get away from the game stalls even as the closing hour approached.
It was truly a fun-filled day... a day when IndiansinKuwait.com and the kids joyously celebrated Freedom From Gadgets!!!