One day, Niranjan Vasireddy, who had just returned from US, found out that nothing excited his son at school. The reason: he wanted to grow up to be Iron Man. Niranjan tried to reason with him saying Tony Stark had to learn first before becoming the Iron Man, and the kid was quick to reply, “But schools don’t teach you how to be one.”
That became the trigger behind starting KiDiHou, the first-ever children’s museum, with his brother-in- law Sreeram Tiriveedula who also returned from the US for good.
Their concept was to build a place which could hone all those skills of children Indian academic curriculum fails to notice; where they get to experiment what they learn at school. Niranjan explains, “This place has two primary principles - one is to give open-ended experiences to children who are socially conditioned to grade themselves based on rankings; and the second, to recycle, reuse and recycle again!” The team goes to schools across Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh where they conduct concept workshops.
A place where children have some real activity outside of the virtual world, the three-floored building in Hyderabad is bustling with kids with their joyous squeals, surprised gasps and laughter of discovery. The colourful activity kiosks filled with recycled items are a hub of enlightenment through fun learning activities.
The first floor is a paradise for children below nine years. For instance, at Builders Cover, your child will figure out how the plumbing system works and you may see them playing in a shower created by themselves.
The miniature and safer versions of an electric saw and wood chisellers with tiny safety caps will fascinate the kids donned in bright neon green safety jackets. Moving further ahead is the Picasso’s Hideout, which unleashes the artists in children. Here, they are allowed to paint across the walls, roofs and on anything in the washable vicinity.
Children aged between 9 and 16, get self-learning workshops. One of the most interesting things they learn is the elementary level of robotics where they create something out of almost nothing (waste or unused items such as water bottles, disposable plastic spoons, tiny plastic boxes, etc).
Another activity – the bed of nails – is a part of the Science Magic workshop that encourages even the heaviest kid to sit, lie down or walk over nails. And they learn the fact – Magic isn’t magic until you learn the science behind it.
