Miss Wilson’s class consisted of the children who were eight years old, full of energy and bright ideas. She had a tough time giving them enough work to utilise their enthusiasm and keep them occupied. It was also very exhausting making them understand that they should work as a team, helping one another.
They were looking forward to a day’s celebration when they would have no classes. There would be a fete in the grounds with stalls for games and food. And each class could also arrange its own games. The students were very excited about it and were looking forward to it.
On the day of the fete, the children enjoyed themselves enormously, walking from stall to stall, playing games and eating all the things that were available. They had stuffed themselves and then it was time to join Miss Wilson in the class for the game.
Miss Wilson decided that the game should be something that would make the youngsters understand the value of working together. So, she thought hard and finally made a game that she thought would help.
In the class, they found her sitting with some small cartons around her. There were no desks or chairs in the classroom. Something was going to happen!
Miss Wilson asked each student to pick a balloon from the carton and blow it up and write his name very carefully on it with the soft pens she had.
The students eagerly took a balloon each. Soon the class was full of coloured balloons. Then carefully, the students wrote their names on their own balloons. The balloons drifted all over the room. When they were done, Miss Wilson asked them to find their own balloons.
The children rushed around to find their own balloons. There were lots of popping sounds as some of the balloons burst! Some of the students found theirs while others spent a long time searching.
After that, Miss Wilson again asked them to blow up balloons and write their names. This time she said, “Pick up any balloon and give it to the person whose name is on it.”
So, the students once again had a roomful of balloons. But now, they found their own balloons very fast. In a few minutes, they stood in front of Miss Wilson, each one holding a balloon.
“How did you find them so fast this time?” asked Miss Wilson who was utterly surprised.
“We helped one another, Miss Wilson. “That’s always better, isn’t it?” piped up Bobby.
“Definitely!” said Miss Wilson, thinking that the balloons had taught her class a great lesson.
Moral: Working as a team solves problems faster.
