Building Life-skills for 150,000 children

'Play' is often defined as children’s work. It is through play that children organize and make sense of the world. 'Play' also helps children unwind from the tensions in their lives. It brings out children’s creativity and so much more. Many of the skills children need as adults to compete in a global economy are not easily taught in a typical classroom setting, yet play offers ideal experiences for learning the 6 Cs: collaboration, communication, content knowledge, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence, according to the Minnesota Children’s Museum.

Toybank allows children opportunities for freely chosen, open-ended play that have a lasting impact on development and benefit them in their future endeavors as adults. This is done through a play-based curriculum that builds the ability of children to identify and access choices that will enable them to improve their life opportunities. 

Stories of Change:

Sagar (name changed), a hyperactive kid; who always ran in and out of the classroom came into the notice of Toybank Field Officer (FO). The FO observed him for 2 sessions with the hope that he might sit and play. He participated in the ice-breaking activity but refused to sit to play Board Games. In the third Play Session, the Field Officer conducted a theme-based activity on Anger Management - Role Play.  In this activity, the kids were given a situation and had to act accordingly. The situation was of a sibling making a drawing and younger sibling spoiling it. The siblings have to portray 2 characters- one where both of them lose temper and another where they control their anger and are empathetic. After the activity was over, Sagar got up and claimed that no one follows the second act. He shared that other students in the classroom bullied him and that is why he is always angry at everyone. 

The Field Officer sat with him and quietly chatted with him. All the while, Sagar was patiently listening and understanding what the FO was trying to explain.

After thinking about it for a while, he voluntarily sat for playing Board Games, which he usually ran away from. The FO was very happy. She gave Count-N-Link to Sagar, which helps in Alphabet & Number recognition. Initially, he refused to play with that particular game. Although, he took the game when he saw that others were accepting the games given to them, as per the rules of the Play Session. Sagar sat in one place till he had joined all the pieces, this was also a surprise for the FO as Sagar never liked sitting in one place. As soon as he finished the game, he rejoiced and smiled widely.

A kid, who was hyperactive and refused to sit at one place for a long time - because of the Play Session module of Activities and Games - understood the value of expressing and its appropriate use and developed the skill of patience. 

This is what goes around during the Toybank Play Sessions, where the children imbibe life skills which are necessary for them to become better people.

Outreach in December 2018, January and February 2019:

The months of December, January and February have been filled with action as always.

With a total of 390 Play Sessions, impacting 9316 children, the sessions were focused on developing their cognitive and social skills. Through the 11 Teacher Training conducted, 260 teachers were empowered with the Power of Play.

2 Football Training Sessions were conducted by a dedicated Toybank Volunteer in these months where more than 25 of our students participated enthusiastically. 1 Awareness Campaign was conducted for a School to sensitize 80 children. The students reciprocated with beautiful ideas of how they plan to work with children at-risk through Play. 
3 Volunteer Inductions were conducted where 11 young volunteers were sensitized about the Power of Play and were given Code of Conduct during Play Sessions. 2 game distributions were held where 282 children were given toys and games to call their own. 23 new Play2Smile (P2S) centers were set up by collaborating with a children's hospital where more than 300 children who come for getting treated are impacted on a regular basis. P2S centers have been opened in various wards of the hospital.

We have been able to work relentlessly and continuously with all our children, thanks for the amazing support we receive from friends like you through the Global Giving network. We look forward to your continued support to ensure that all children in India are given this opportunity for early childhood mental well-being. 

Thank you and Happy Toybanking! 

Links:

• Our partner thanks Toybank for its efforts!