National Bal Bhavan, Delhi Overview

National Bal Bhavan is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, headquartered at ITO, New Delhi. Established in 1956 by the then Prime Minister of India- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the centre aims to nurture and enhance the creative ability of young children by providing them with an interactive environment replete with engaging activities and interesting opportunities according to their age-group, abilities and aptitude. Pandit Nehru believed that the formal education system was too strict and syllabus bound and had little scope to help develop the young minds completely. The inception of national Bal Bhavan therefore, came into the picture. Today, the centre helps young generations became efficient future scientists, engineers, leader and overall responsible citizens

Laced with numerous absorbing activities, creative arts, literary projects, photography and museum techniques, the centre provides a wonderful platform to kids to express and evolve their ideas; and help them in their overall growth. Besides the fun activities that National Bal Bhavan boasts of, the institute also has an informative museum which offers non-formal learning opportunities and knowledge to children. In addition, it has a traffic park, skating park, camping hostel, amphitheatre, cultural exchange programmes and interesting workshops.

Mini Train at Bal Bhavan

The mini train at Bal Bhavan is one of the major attractions of the place. The train was originally gifted to the centre by the first Prime Minister of the country- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1958. The tiny train has two full coaches and has a seating capacity of 52 people - including both adults and kids. The set-up also has a make-believe Railway station called Khel Gaon; the name of which is relevant both literally for the place and the destination. An engine house is constructed where the train rests and has a turntable to help turn the train around. The thrilling train ride is a mile long trip circumventing the Bal Bhavan compound on a Y3 gauge. To make the ride even more worthwhile, the train passed through a tunnel and also a bridge, both of which are very realistic.

The mini train has had the privilege to offer rides to many celebrated dignitaries- both foreign and domestic, including Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Shri Chandra Shekhar, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, and Smt. Sonia Gandhi.

Traffic Park at Bal Bhavan

A tiny traffic park has been set up in the premises of Bal Bhavan with the support of Delhi Traffic Police. The park has small roads and is equipped with traffic signals, road signs and crossings. Children are provided with bicycles to paddle around and learn about the traffic rules and signals in a fun way. A small film is also played briefing the kids about the road safety measures. The park, in addition to being a fun activity, is a great way to teach the young kids and spread awareness.

Laughing Mirrors at Bal Bhavan

Bal Bhavan also has the laughing mirror section which is basically a gallery full of mirrors. Huge pieces of concave and convex mirrors have been placed at different angles and positions with each other to reflect a deflected and a distorted image of the object placed in front of them. So when kids look at themselves in the mirror, they see a funny image of themselves and burst out laughing. In addition to being funny, this is a great way to teach the kids about different kinds of mirrors, reflections, and science in general.

Science Park at Bal Bhavan

Science Park is a park which is equipped with working science models of every day use. Keeping in mind the inquisitive temperament of the kids, the park has been modelled in a way so as to answer their curious questions and teach them about the everyday phenomenon with science activities. For example, a seesaw can teach the kids about the fulcrum principle, the black and white benches teaches them about the variation in colours when it comes to absorption of light etc. There are also present models of various science equipments including a pin-hole camera, periscope, musical pipes, solar system models etc.

Mini Zoo, Aviary and Fish Corner at Bal Bhavan

Bal Bhavan complex also houses a tiny zoo to impart basic knowledge about animals to the kids. In addition to that, it has a huge aviary with over 20 varieties of different birds including pigeons, partridges, mainas etc.

The fish corner is a beautiful corner which serves more purpose than plain sightseeing. It educates the children about the fresh-water fish and salt-water fish, use of gills, streamline swimming and other techniques. They also learn about making of the aquariums- surface tension, release of oxygen etc.

Children’s Library at Bal Bhavan

Inaugurated in 1992, the library at Bal Bhavan has been divided into sections- Children’s Library and Reference Library. Children’s Library has books for kids from 5 to 16 years of age on subjects ranging from art & crafts, literature, mathematics, science, computers, general awareness etc. The infants' corner in the library is meant for kids from 5 to 9 years of age and has soft toys, game accessories and stencil pictures etc. The library also organised games and quiz shows for the children.

The reference library has encyclopedias for the kids to refer to. Kids can take an annual membership of the library by an annual security deposition of INR 100; after which they can issue books from a period of 7 to 14 days.

Sanskriti Shilpa Gram at Bal Bhavan

A small section of the Bal Bhavan complex has been dedicated to the creation of a rural village scene. Equipped with small kiosks, water wells, machaans, swings, statues of village women drawing water and milking cows, huge idols of cows and stray animals, seating spaces called chaupals, mounds of real cow dung and folk art, the area is synonymous with the village culture. The village comes alive with activity every Saturday when the art and craft activities like henna application, paper mache, pottery etc. are shifted to the village complex. Folk songs are played for the children, and they are made to see and learn the rural arts like pottery, dung making etc.

How To Reach National Bal Bhavan

The nearest metro station to National Bal Bhavan is Pragati Maidan Metro, situated on the blue line. It can also be reached through the HOHO bus service- Pragati Maidan on the red route.