Chronicles of HillHacks

Since 2014 hardware and software specialists, amateurs and geeks from around the globe have been coming to the hills of himalaya. HillHacks has become a way of living for most of these people. These are the short clippings which were made during HillHacks’16 near Dharamshala.

Hill Hacks: Origami Workshop

We got done with the 25 kids of the balloon powered car workshop by noon. As it was a government school, the kids took off for having their mid day meal and we were also invited by the staff to have lunch with them. We had the food given to the kids along with the one brought by the teachers and it was really nice. We talked about the general education scene in and around Dharamshala.

After having lunch we started the origami workshop with a new set of 25 kids. I had made a few origami objects before we started the workshop. I kept them on the table and hung one of them from the ceiling of the room.

Kids started checking the objects and twisted them around and some were trying to touch the object hanging from the ceiling. These objects really got them excited. Then I asked them whether they are interested in making one for themselves. All off them nodded their heads.

As these kids were from 3rd standard and had no prior exposure to origami, I thought we’ll make a  really simple helix model. So, we distributed papers to everyone and then we begun our step by step instructions. Some of the kids really picked up whatever was being told to them, some of them were stuck. We asked the kids who figured out the folds to help the one who couldn’t. Then a lot of them came to me and Henna to help them out. After around 25 minutes of hard work and folding everyone was almost done and each one of them had a smile on their face.

We still had some time left, so I thought why not make the simplest toy I ever played with when I was a kid. The next model we made was a fan using three strips of paper. We cut the strips quickly and gave to the kids. And again the step by step process begun. This was an easier one so, the kids were able to pick the instructions fast. After finishing the fan they had no clue how it works. I took a pencil from one of the kid and placed the fan on the tip of the pencil and blew at it, it started spinning. And within the next seconds there was a sense of amazement in them and all of them got super excited.

After some 10 minutes the school ground was full of kids running with their paper fans. It was really a blissful feeling. A bunch of 25 kids with these paper toys having a blast. I don’t think any expensive toy would give so much joy as the simple paper fan did.

Even one of the teacher got really excited about the concept of making things with paper and she also learnt to make the fan. She wants to teach this to the kids in the future.

The tiny 25 Makers had fun that day.

 

Face origami

Origami mayhem

Smiles

Hill Hacks: Origami Workshop Government Primary School, Naddi

The wonders of origami

The young aviators

Fan mode on

Happy kid

Concentration

Could you please help me

Joy

 

Hill Hacks: School Program

One of the reason behind coming to hill hacks was to visit schools nearby and do workshop on origami. So, I visited the Government Primary School, Naddi along with a fellow hill hacker Henna. Kids from other nearby government schools also came for the workshop. We conducted two workshops, the first one was on balloon powered car and the second one was on basic origami.

We took 25 kids of 3rd and 4th standard for the workshops. In the balloon powered car one we divided the kids into a group of four and then we distributed them a pack which had a cardboard sheet, two pairs of plastic toy car wheels, two steel rods, two straws, one rubber band, a pair of scissors and electrical tape.

We asked them to make the car. They started tinkering with the material given. Some of them passed the steel rod through the corrugations, some stuck the rod directly to the cardboard using the tape. But all this was making the car stop in a very short distance.

We asked the kids to figure out a way to attach the wheels in a free rotating manner. Initially they had difficulty but after 10-15 minutes some of them figured out that they can pass the steel rod through the straw and then attach it to the cardboard body.

Then the next challenge was propulsion. We started asking them questions like how does a car moves, how does an airplane flies, how a rocket launches itself. It was the rocket question that made some of the kids realize that they can use the balloon to power the car. The next challenge was to figure out how to make this happen using the parts available.

One group stuck a balloon to the straw using tape and tried putting it on the car. But the problem was that the balloon kept on coming off the straw, Then one group used the rubber band to tie the balloon to the straw. They had to try and test how many times they had to ply the band. Too tight the band lead to slow release of air and too loose lead to the balloon coming off.

After everyone group was done making the cars we had a couple of races. Kids were so excited in the entire process. We suggested that the can build more toys using the same concept and some of them said they would like to make a boat or a rocket.

Up up and away

Testing

Gentlemen start your engines.

Curious

Innocence

Engrossed