Activities surrounding Reggae Month often specifically cater to adults interested in events involving performances, symposiums, concerts and jam sessions highlighting the genre and all its offerings.

Indeed, the diversity of reggae is such that it is always trending, always relevant and its players, whether current or iconic, have helped to plant it firmly and securely on the global map. However, few if any have thought to incorporate fun and ‘edu-taining’ activities centred on children and their desire to embrace the richness of the musical legacy that they have inherited, simply by being fortunate enough to be born on ‘Jamrock’.

For communication specialist Amashika Lorne it made perfect sense to incorporate the next generation of budding musicians, storytellers, artistes and collectors by initiating a series of child-friendly events focused solely on showcasing Jamaica’s rich musical journey and how it impacts not just the world but also their own lives.

Dubbed ‘Create with Aunty Ama’, the series, which will be an annual calendar event, will highlight areas of interest such as the ‘evolution of the music’, ‘icons of the music’, ‘instruments of reggae’ and ‘the message found in the music’.

To date, ‘Create with Aunty Ama’ has had two successful stagings with two more scheduled before the end of the month that will feature surprises that will thrill the young participants.

Lorne, who is also the conceptualiser, is excited to be sharing knowledge of Jamaica’s musical history with its future decision-makers as she feels it is a blessing to be able to make a positive mark on the little ones which is why the series is very special to her.

“The focus is on preserving Jamaica’s culture for posterity. Through the children, we can foster creative expression, develop their fine motor skills while relieving their stress and anxiety,” she said.

‘Create with Aunty Ama’ exposes children ages 6 to12 years to artistic sessions that span approximately an hour. The children however do not even realise that they are actually learning for that period as they are so engrossed in the different aspects of the interactive sessions which are structured in a format that inspires both children living in Jamaica as well as those in the Diaspora interested in Jamaican content or multicultural education.

NAME CHANGE AND CONCEPT EXPANSION

Lorne, who established the idea of this kid-friendly content last year, had previously named the series ‘Colouring with Aunty Ama’ but quickly realised that it would encompass a lot more, hence the name change and concept expansion.

“When we launched in 2021, it was over a period of five months and we mainly focused on colouring and it being a great outlet for creative expression while also assisting them with the anxiety and stress that they could possibly be experiencing because of the pandemic,” she said.

“This year, however, the Reggae Month Secretariat approached me and they asked me to come on board every weekend as opposed to just one. I was very pleased and excited because I believe it is important to document and preserve for posterity, and what I do with the children satisfies and pours into that objective. It gave me a moment to start realising my long-term vision with this activity and not wanting to change the name each time the activity would change, so with ‘CREATE’ we will be exploring various art forms as we evolve.”

The series will be streamed on various online platforms, including the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s YouTube channel and the Facebook pages of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport plus that of Culture Minister Olivia Grange. It will also be shown on the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) channel.

“I’m very pleased with the continued support of the Jamaica Observer through the partnership with the Junior Study Centre and the Learning Corner published for our students on Thursday. The colouring page is printed on a Thursday with the topic, Zoom details, and time, for the children to then come join me for free on Saturdays from 4:30 to 5:30 pm.”

 For more information, parents and schools can visit Amashika-associates.com and request the colouring pages to be sent for their students to take part in the next two sessions.