Building Life-skills for 150,000 children

Dear Toybanker,

Just like the season in Mumbai, Toybank has been raining with Activities! The months of June, July, and August had come in with fun along with responsibilities. Toybank has believed in Development through Play and teaching through the medium of toys, games and unstructured Play for children. 

Outreach:

Since the beginning of the quarter, we have conducted 287 Play Sessions at our centers across Mumbai, impacting 7656 children. A Special Football Session was conducted at Gilderlane Municipal School by a passionate Toybank volunteer.

7 Teacher Training sessions were conducted where 54 teachers understood the Power of Play as a method to teach their students. 91 of our Urban and Rural Play centers have been restored with new and innovative games. 54 new centers have been set up in the urban and rural regions of Maharashtra.

We conducted 7 Impact Awareness Campaign for 245 individuals from every sector. 2 Distributions were conducted across 3 centers in Mumbai wherein 50 volunteers participated and 177 children received toys and games to call their own.

Program:

Toybank has introduced 2 themes for the year to drive unstructured Play.

1) Anger Management – The theme has been adapted to address the aggression and the anger that the children display at this age.

2) Habit Formation – this theme was introduced so that children indulge in forming good habits and are aware of their bad habits in the early age itself.

Through our Play2Smile program, we have collaborated with 3 hospitals driving the Power of Play to 268 children undergoing treatments. We have also partnered with International Baccalaureate Schools, catering to their CAS Programme where the children to fulfill their Social Responsibility are conducting Play Sessions at low-income schools. This programme will help the CAS children become more empathetic and aware about the ground reality.

Toybank celebrated the ‘World Play Day’ with the young at heart residents of Jeevan Asha Old Age Home. The day not only included toys and games for the aged but also them dancing to the tunes of music performed by the Toybank Volunteers.

Moments of Change: (in the words of our volunteer)

"During a play session, one of Toybank’s field officer had planned on playing Ring Ding Whoosh as an activity. The activity was chosen as it helps in increasing focus among kids and simultaneously teaches numbers. I started the session by explaining to them the rules of the activity and everyone seemed excited to learn the new activity. In the session, there was a kid, Arjun (name changed). The kid lacked focus and did not show interest in playing games which was displayed in the previous sessions as well. The teacher of the class also had the same opinion. But as soon as the activity started, this kid really amazed the onlookers. Every time he had to say a number or perform the action, he did it effortlessly. It is safe to say that Arjun was playing better than the rest of the children. Arjun who was the most active actually displayed excellent focus, concentration and even helped others to remember their numbers. Later on, the teacher who thought that he will be among the first to be out were surprised by the change of events. His friends also supported and cheered for him when they got out. Every time when he was saying the right number with the right action, there was a wide smile on my face. Seeing him playing with confidence, focus and most of all trying to perform well in itself was the magical part of the session."

Toybank through similar process help children overcome the barriers to their healthy development. We are able to do this because supporters like you contribute to the cause. We would like to thank you for your endless encouragement and contribution. Please do hit the donate button on our Project page. You can also rate our report at the bottom of this page. We look forward to your continued support to ensure that all children in India are given this opportunity for healthy development.

Dear Toybank Supporters,

We have had an amazing kick-off to the financial year 2018-19! Wishing it to be a progressive one for all of us. Toybank is always enthusiastic to share its reports on GlobalGiving, as this platform has always been a strong support system for us. The months of March, April, and May 2018 at Toybank have been refreshing and innovative.

Through our Play Sessions, we delve into the Right to Play for children and also teach through the medium of toys, games and plenty of unstructured Play. In these three months, we have conducted 208 Play Sessions at our centres across Mumbai, reaching out to 5164 children.
8 Teacher Training sessions were conducted where 91 teachers understood how to drive the Power of Play to their children. We also replenished games at 25 of our Urban and Rural Play centres to restock them with new and innovative games to suit each child’s need. A Special Frisbee Session was conducted by our volunteer, Craig – an ardent Toybank Supporter at Malvani, Malad.

We conducted 1 Impact Awareness Campaign for 20 individuals from all walks of life. A Distribution was held at Durga Devi Sharma School for 80 children who received beautiful games and toys.

In the month of April 2018, a Power of Play championship was organized at Beed district in Maharashtra. Toybank as Organizers, Child Action as Sponsors and Manavlok as our non-profit partners, joined forces to conduct the inaugural Power of Play Championship in April 2018. 20 Schools, each sending teams of 4 children, totalling 80 children spread across Primary and Secondary students participated in the event.

The Power of Play Championship was much more than just a board game competition. It was about reinforcing the language and importance of play in the lives of children using play both as a distraction and a learning mechanism. An important aspect of the even for Toybank was reaching out to stakeholders like teachers to reiterate what exactly play can achieve. Toybank is looking towards the future to reach out to more stakeholders and continue to reinforce how PLAY impacts lives of children and everyone associated.

Here is what a volunteer had to say about her experience at the event: “There was learning happening all around; for us, for the teachers and for the children. You could see the powerful impact of Play"  - Reeba George, Volunteer

Moments of Change: (in the words of our field leader)

“Ganesh (name changed), a 12-year-old child, who lives in the interior slums of Malvani, Mumbai, was a part of the Summer Special Play Session. He was playing with ‘Toy Town’. During the span of the Play Session, I kept observing him as to what he is trying to make. Despite having an instruction manual on how to make palace, houses; he opted to make a Garbage Truck out of the Lego blocks. When asked what is it made for, he pointed out to a house made of Lego by his friend saying “Yeh truck jayega aur uss ghar se kachra collect karega aur dumping ground mai jaake daal dega” (This truck will go and collect the garbage from that house and dump it in the dumping ground.) All the while illustrating through the truck how it will go. He also made more objects from the Lego and started narrating more stories with them. It was very interesting to hear Ganesh’s pretend stories that were somehow related to the garbage truck.
This made me realize a game is not just limited to developing one certain skill set but has the capacity to develop a lot more than that. It has the capacity to develop and shape the child’s personality This puts across, the awareness the children have towards their surrounding and their willingness to contribute to making a change in the society.”

It is through Play that children learn to express their thoughts. We at Toybank will keep working for the children’s healthy development through the medium of PLAY.

We thank you once again for your kind contribution and to continue supporting us please do hit the donate button on our Project page. We look forward to your continued support to ensure that all children in India are given this opportunity to play, and in the process, help in their growth and development.

Links:

• Volunteer's experiences at the Distribution Event