The film starts and we are watching a universal practice in action, through a first-person P.O.V. A mother with her daughter, laying below a starry sky, stargazing and making guesses for the future. We watch the stars in the sky “light up”, as the mother is trying to see the future in them: will her daughter become an astronaut? A doctor?

Then, with a match cut, we’re transferred to a different setting. The dynamics have now been reversed. The same mother with her daughter is not laying anymore under the stars, but bending over a piece of paper. Together, they’re completing a Rocket Learning activity. She’s not simply dreaming anymore, but taking material action for her daughter’s future.

In India, over 40 million children aged 3–6 are unable to access high-quality education. Yet, early education is crucial as it helps to build vital neural connections, much harder to build later in life. Parental engagement could prevent this outcome, with parents helping their children learn through simple activities.

This is where Rocket Learning helps, by delivering short, contextualized content to over 1.5 million children, via government-anchored WhatsApp groups. Parents join these groups and get a daily play-based lesson (around 20 mins) to complete with their children.

Many parents, however, experience hesitation. They’re unaware of their vital role in their children’s education, as well as unconfident in getting involved – especially when they are uneducated themselves. So, we’re aiming to empower(1) primary caregivers by raising awareness to take charge of their young children's education confidently, while simultaneously addressing the simplicity, and therefore doability(2) of Rocket Learning activities.

Mothers dream big for their children. No matter their lived experience and background, it’s as if they are hardwired to do so. What’s also hardwired in human nature is the tendency to focus on the “big” dream, oftentimes overlooking the little milestones that will help you get there. But focusing on “the big” can be overwhelming and disorienting. We wanted to highlight how taking material action to get there can be as small as helping your child pick up a pencil and draw a line. Because in reality, it’s the small, consecutive actions that will get you there. Just like a game of “connecting the dots”.

Since our target audience is low-income parents, particularly mothers, from rural, semi-urban parts of India aged 18 to 35, with limited to no education, we wanted to create a film that would resonate with them and would be easily understood and felt. So, we chose a universal childhood memory, shared amongst people of all generations and backgrounds: laying under the night sky and dreaming about the future. The second part of the film is also a game played throughout the world for years. It’s a simple game of connecting the dots.

The combination of easy-to-understand occasions, as well as the female, native-sounding voice-over will “speak” to mothers across all India - and not only. Ultimately, the film showcases the easiness of Rocket Learning activities, as well as inspires mothers to dream, but also do for their children’s future.