Kolkata-based Ritika Agarwal is an impact entrepreneur. She is using her sense of design and zealous business sensibilities to make a positive impact on the underprivileged section of society. With a degree in Graphic Design from Falmouth University in the UK, 24-year-old Agarwal’s venture Monochrome, an innovation and design consultancy, aims to channelise the power of businesses to tackle social issues through design methods. Moved by the lack of educational and creative resources for children from low-income families, she started Sticky Bits, her first project at Monochrome. “I want every child across India to have a means to express them creatively. I also want to make activity-based learning accessible to schools that cannot afford expensive creative tools,” says Agarwal.
Sticky Bits, an innovative method of teaching, can be used for activity-based learning. “Made of processed starch, Sticky Bits are biodegradable and non-toxic colourful bits. These can be used for various activities such as art and craft classes, storytelling, math, science and even for team building exercises. These are economically available in the range of Rs 50-500 and are environment-friendly. Suitable for all age groups, they allow kids to think out of the box,” says Agarwal, adding that “one can simply dab, stick, build and let creativity soar high.” All that one needs is a moist sponge, a pack of Sticky Bits and two safety scissors to shape up the designs.
She has been reaching out to NGOs and schools across the country that are willing to resort to innovative methods of teaching and has conducted storytelling, team building and activity-based learning workshops with children between the age group of three and 12 years in the past one year.
Recalling her experience from one of her sessions that she held with kids at Child in Need Institute Kolkata, Agarwal says, “It was probably one of the best workshops where a 10-year-old boy used Sticky Bits to make a layout of what he called ‘home’. It was not an ordinary hut with a roof; it was a simple floor layout of two rooms, a bed frame and a table. That day I realised that it lets children dream and create without restrictions.” Her tool has also been introduced by three young fellows in the Teach For India classrooms in Mumbai. And now, Agarwal plans to take Sticky Bits pan-India and is working on a new packaging to launch it online.