Family and Friends in NCERT EVS: Relationships, Work and Play, Animals and Plants

Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections

Why this theme comes first

Family and Friends is the first of the six EVS themes and the only one divided into sub-themes: Relationships, Work and Play, Animals, and Plants. It starts where the child already is, with the people at home and friends nearby, and widens to the community and the living world. In Looking Around (Aas-Paas), the NCERT books for classes III to V, the theme runs through stories, poems and activities in all three books and returns each year with more depth.

Relationships

The books show families as they really are, not one ideal type. Families can be Different (class III) shows families of many sizes and kinds and asks who lives in each child's home. Changing Families (class IV) shows how a family changes when a baby is born (Nimmi), when a parent is transferred to another city (Tsering) and when someone in the family marries (Nazli). Like Father, Like Daughter (class V) asks which features, such as curly hair, eye colour or dimples, children share with their relatives, tells of Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants, and separates such inherited traits from what we learn from our surroundings, such as language or music (polio, it notes, is not inherited). A teacher should never assume that every child lives with a mother and a father; a family-tree activity must leave room for every kind of family.

Work and Play

Work We Do and Games We Play (class III) ask who does which work at home and which games are played indoors and outdoors. Hu Tu Tu, Hu Tu Tu (class IV) is built around kabaddi (hu-tu-tu is one of its regional names), shows a team of girls playing it, and tells of the sisters Jwala, Leela and Heera of Mumbai, who played it when girls were not allowed to. Who will do this Work? (class V) raises the question of dignity of labour: why cleaning toilets and drains is looked down upon, and how in Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram everyone, guests included, had to empty the toilet baskets, while Gandhiji himself later cleaned village toilets near Wardha. Children learn that all work is useful and that housework is not only women's work.

Animals

In class III, Poonam's Day Out asks children to group the animals they see by how they move, and Flying High looks at birds, their feathers and the shapes of their beaks. In class IV, Ear to Ear shows that animals with ears seen outside the body, such as the cat, cow and elephant, have hair and give birth to young ones, while birds have only ear holes and lay eggs; A Day with Nandu describes an elephant herd of females and young ones, led by the oldest female, which young males leave at about 14 to 15 years; and Anita and the Honeybees tells of Anita Kushwaha of Bochaha village in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar, who took up beekeeping, and explains that only the queen bee lays eggs while worker bees collect nectar. In class V, A Snake Charmer's Story, about the Kalbeliya community, asks whether a snake hears the been or follows its movement (snakes have no outer ears), names four poisonous snakes, the cobra, common krait, Russell's viper and saw-scaled viper (the 'big four' behind most snakebites in India), and notes that the law now forbids catching and keeping snakes (the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972).

Plants

The Plant Fairy (class III) asks children to observe the plants near them, compare leaf shapes and take bark and leaf rubbings. In class IV, The Valley of Flowers begins in the valley in Uttarakhand where flowers bloom for only a few weeks a year and moves on to Madhubani floral designs, flowers eaten as vegetables and itr from Kannauj; and Abdul in the Garden is about roots, which hold a plant firmly in the ground and take in water, and roots we eat such as radish. Seeds and Seeds (class V) deals with sprouting and with how seeds travel: on the wind, stuck to animals' fur, and thrown out by bursting pods such as soyabean. The Story of Amrita (class IV) tells how, almost three hundred years ago, Amrita, her daughters and many villagers of Khejadli near Jodhpur gave their lives hugging the khejadi trees to save them from the king's men (history records 363 Bishnois killed in 1730); the Government of India's Amrita Devi Bishnoi award honours those who protect wildlife.

Living things in our lives

The books keep returning to how people depend on living things for food, wool and silk, medicine, fuel and work (bullocks, camels, yaks), and Web of Life (class III) shows how trees, soil, water, animals and people are linked in one web on which our lives depend. Children are asked to care: not to tease animals, to keep water for birds in summer, and to respect the knowledge of forest dwellers, beekeepers and snake charmers. Chuskit Goes to School (class IV), in which Abdul, the other children and the teachers level the road and bridge the river so that Chuskit, a girl in a wheelchair in Ladakh, can reach school, carries the message of inclusion.

In the classroom

In a typical CTET situation, a teacher asks children to bring photographs of their father and mother, and one child lives with an aunt. The better plan frames such activities around 'the people I live with'. Good practice also includes watching an ant trail form around a few grains of sugar, observing a nest without touching it, interviewing grandparents about the games they played, and letting children group animals by their own criteria before introducing the textbook's groups.

Key facts

Family and Friends is the only EVS theme with sub-themes: Relationships, Work and Play, Animals, Plants.
Class IV Ear to Ear: animals with ears seen outside the body (cat, cow, elephant) have hair and give birth to young ones; birds have ear holes and lay eggs.
Class IV A Day with Nandu: an elephant herd has females and young ones, is led by the oldest female, and young males leave at about 14-15 years.
Class IV Anita and the Honeybees: Anita Kushwaha of Bochaha, Muzaffarpur (Bihar) took up beekeeping; only the queen bee lays eggs, worker bees collect nectar.
Class V A Snake Charmer's Story: Kalbeliya community; snakes have no outer ears, so the been's movement matters, not its sound; the four poisonous snakes named are the cobra, common krait, Russell's viper and saw-scaled viper; catching snakes is banned (Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972).
Class IV The Story of Amrita: Amrita and the villagers of Khejadli, near Jodhpur, died to save khejadi trees (363 Bishnois, 1730); the Amrita Devi Bishnoi award honours wildlife protection.
Class IV The Valley of Flowers: the valley in Uttarakhand blooms for a few weeks a year; Madhubani floral art (Bihar), flowers eaten as vegetables, itr from Kannauj (UP); collect only fallen flowers.
Class V Who will do this Work?: dignity of labour; in Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram everyone, guests included, emptied the toilet baskets, and Gandhiji himself cleaned village toilets near Wardha.
Class IV Chuskit Goes to School: Chuskit, a girl in a wheelchair in Ladakh, reaches school with her friends' help; a lesson in inclusion.
Classroom rule: frame family activities as 'the people I live with' so that no child's family is treated as odd.

Quick revision

Family and Friends: only theme with sub-themes (Relationships, Work and Play, Animals, Plants); families differ and change (birth, marriage, moving for work); inherited vs learnt features; ears seen outside = hair + young ones; elephant herd led by oldest female; Anita Kushwaha, Bihar, honeybees; Kalbeliya, four poisonous snakes, Wildlife Act 1972; Amrita and the Bishnois of Khejadli (363, 1730); Valley of Flowers (Uttarakhand), itr of Kannauj; girls' kabaddi; dignity of labour; inclusive family activities.

Practise this topic

All 8 lessons on Environmental Studies (EVS) and its Pedagogy (Paper I)