We started FunSmartism because
we kept seeing something
schools weren't designed to notice.
Children often behave very differently when they are given real opportunities to build, explore, experiment, and solve unfamiliar challenges actively.
FunSmartism was created to provide more of those environments.
Three Things We Believe.
Many children do not lack ability.
They often lack enough opportunities to solve unfamiliar challenges independently.
Marks show outcomes.
They do not always show how a child approaches difficulty, uncertainty, or real-world problem-solving.
Parents deserve more visibility.
A report card alone cannot show how a child thinks when there are no instructions waiting.
Why We Built This
Environment.
Again and again, we noticed children becoming deeply engaged the moment learning became hands-on, exploratory, and real.
Children who rarely showed participation in standard classroom settings often became highly active inside these environments.
Parents noticed the difference too. Many would say:
“I haven’t seen my child this engaged in a long time.”
That repeated pattern became the foundation of FunSmartism.
But as a hands-on RoboSTEM thinking lab where children actively participate in learning through experimentation, projects, challenges, and real-world exploration.
From software systems to child thinking systems
Dipali Akolkar, Founder — FunSmartism
After years in software development and hands-on parenting, Dipali went deeper into child development through formal learning experiences in both Pune and the USA.
What stood out was simple: the right environment can completely change how a child observes, persists, and solves.
That insight led her to build FunSmartism in Pune — a scientist-inspired RoboSTEM environment where real problem-solving becomes visible and parents learn how to support independent thinking in everyday life.
Dipali Akolkar
The problem we saw
Many children looked capable, but they only shined when the environment asked them to think independently.
A new way to observe
Instead of teaching a result, we began documenting how children decide, retry and explain their next move.
A thinking-first lab
FunSmartism became the space where the process is the outcome and every team member is a careful observer.
The mentors behind the learning experience
FunSmartism is founder-led, strengthened by experienced mentors, collaborators, and practitioner friends who contribute to workshops, challenge design, and real-world learning experiences.
Brief bios focused on what each team member notices about children — not their qualifications. We are obsessed with cognitive development.
Moments from Real Sessions
These are the kinds of moments that happen regularly inside workshops, STEM challenges, and year-long sessions — moments that often reveal sides of children parents rarely get to see during traditional learning routines.
A 10-year-old and a gear system she'd never seen before.
She didn't touch it for the first eight minutes. Just looked. Tilted her head. Looked from a different angle. When she finally reached out, her first move was to turn the largest gear — testing the system before committing to it. Her parent had described her as 'slow to start things'. We described it as a real problem solving way of first observing the system. Same child. Different lens.
A 12-year-old who failed four times and kept going.
His fourth attempt didn't work either. He sat back, stared at the ceiling for about thirty seconds, then picked up the materials and tried something genuinely different. Not a variation — a different approach entirely. That shift is harder than it sounds. Most adults default to trying the same thing faster. He did it at twelve, without being asked.
A 14-year-old who explained her project to a scientist during one of our school and edu innovation events.
She'd spent a month building a working model during the year-long program. At the event, a researcher asked her how it worked. She answered — clearly, confidently, technically. And then asked the researcher a question back. Her mother said she'd never heard her daughter speak to an adult that way. We weren't surprised. We'd been watching her think for eight weeks.
A 10-year-old and a gear system she'd never seen before.
She didn't touch it for the first eight minutes. Just looked. Tilted her head. Looked from a different angle. When she finally reached out, her first move was to turn the largest gear — testing the system before committing to it. Her parent had described her as 'slow to start things'. We described it as a real problem solving way of first observing the system. Same child. Different lens.
A 12-year-old who failed four times and kept going.
His fourth attempt didn't work either. He sat back, stared at the ceiling for about thirty seconds, then picked up the materials and tried something genuinely different. Not a variation — a different approach entirely. That shift is harder than it sounds. Most adults default to trying the same thing faster. He did it at twelve, without being asked.
A 14-year-old who explained her project to a scientist during one of our school and edu innovation events.
She'd spent a month building a working model during the year-long program. At the event, a researcher asked her how it worked. She answered — clearly, confidently, technically. And then asked the researcher a question back. Her mother said she'd never heard her daughter speak to an adult that way. We weren't surprised. We'd been watching her think for eight weeks.
Marks show outcomes.
Real-world learning experiences shape confidence, curiosity, and independent problem-solving — not rote learning.
We are not against exams, academics, or results. We simply believe children also need environments where they can actively participate in learning instead of only following instructions.
