Making incense sticks| Activity Blog by Aaryan, 10, Bangalore
Have you learnt something new this summer? 10-year-old Aaryan from Bangalore made homemade incense (sambrani/dhoop) sticks at home! He shares all about it in this fabulous blog.
Hey everyone, hope you all are enjoying summer holidays. How did you all celebrate Earth day on April 22nd? The theme of World Earth Day 2023 is “Invest in Our Planet”, calling for everyone to shift towards sustainable practices.
We had learnt about 3 R’s in grade 4 – REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE – so I wanted to do something this earth day to understand how we can start being sustainable right from our homes.
My amma pointed out the practices which we already are being sustainable in possible ways like-
- Carrying our own bags when we go shopping to avoid plastic carry bags.
- Carrying our own water bottles so we avoid buying plastic bottles.
- Segregation of waste at home and recycling the wet waste from the kitchen and garden.
- Being mindful about our shopping choices.
- Donating our books and toys which we no longer use but might be useful for someone.
- Planting trees! Gardening teaches us so much.
I noticed that we use a lot of flowers, tulasi, and other leaves everyday for daily pooja at home which my grandparents used to dry and use as manure for plants and an idea struck me! So here’s what I did!
1.I collected all these flowers used for pooja daily for a week and dried them on the terrace.
2.Once they completely dried, with my Aachi (grandmother)’s help I ground them into powder.
3.My Aachi suggested we add a few things like rose water, camphor, dried henna seeds which she had from our farm for fragrance.
- We mixed all the ingredients with a little ghee and a splash of water.
- We made cone shaped sambrani/ dhoop.
6. We kept them for drying in the shade.
7. We let it dry for 2 days.
8. Voila! It turned out to be a lovely pink shade as it dried.
My Aachi happily used it for pooja and it smelled divine! The happiness and satisfaction that it’s homemade brought so much joy to everyone.
What’s our take away from this activity?
- We used flowers which are otherwise thrown or wasted.
- We avoided buying sambrani from the store which in turn would be packed in plastic.
- So it’s a win win!
- We reduced usage of plastic, reused the dried flowers, and recycled flowers instead of throwing them away. I invested my time and energy in practicing sustainability as per this years theme. Yay! Amma always says, “Home is where the heart is.”
Our planet earth is our home isn’t it? So is it not our responsibility to be mindful about our planet and be practicing sustainability everyday? Think about it and share your views and feedback.
Will you also try to make this sambrani at home using dried flowers? Do let me know.
29 Responses
Learning everyday with you Aaryan ☺️
Great job Aaryan! With kids like you the future of planet earth is in safe hands
Thank you aunty
Thank you amma
Chi.Aaryan what an amazing,innovative thinking about our Nature and it’s merits and demerits. If all of us think about your innovative ideas and follow scrupulously definitely it is a boon to the nature we can redonate. Continue your innovative ideas in all aspects, wishing you Good luck in your future. Regards.
D.T Venkatesh and family.Mysore.
Thank you very much uncle… for your sweet words and always encouraging me…
Brilliant idea !!! Keep rocking Aaryan👍
Thank you aunty
Wow awesome idea Aaryan!! Keep rocking as always
Thank you aunty
Very nice Aaryan, I enjoyed doing this activity with you, keep writing and sharing your stories with everyone, god bless
Thank you aachi for teaching me such great ideas
Hats off to your new ideas and innovation Aaryan. Keep going. I also try to make sambrani out of dry used flowers.
Thank you aunty
Wow! Good job Aaryan! Your innovativeness must be appreciated
Thank you aunty
These are very creative ideas and you did a good job, Aaryan. Keep rocking 🥳.
Thank you anna
Thank you anna….
Aaryan, Your blog post was not just informative but truly captivating from start to finish. I see your passion towards writing and keep doing the good work ! God bless you!
Thank you mama
Great thinking Aryan,keep up the work.
Thank you aunty
Wow Aryan Superb what a wonderful idea👏👏👏 keep rocking dear….
Thank you aunty
Good job Aaryan! Keep up the good work 👏🏻
Thank you aunty
Amazing Aryan! For any idea to be sustainable it has to be easy to follow as a routine and this is just that! I will definitely try this out with my kids.
Thank you aunty… let me know how you find it…