Unforgettable Holiday at Gherta Mica

The children who go to Licuricii [Fireflies] Community Centre from Gherta Mica had a few great days of holiday as for a week they took part in a play work programme which ended in a fantastic carnival!

During 23-25 July, at the community centre from Gherta Mica, the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family and STEA Association from Satu Mare organised a play work session for the children of the village.

For five days, four hours a day, the children played, learnt lots of new things and took part in creative workshops where they made costumes and accessories for the Children of the Earth carnival. The core theme of the play work activities was discovering the cultural diversity of three continents: Asia, Africa and North America .

We can name some of the games: knowledge games, team work games, verbal and non-verbal communication, attention, skilfulness and quickness games as well as sports games to develop the mobility of the children. Six teams were formed for the carnival, two for each continent, representing these countries: China , Japan , Chile , Brazil , Congo and Angola . The teams made country-specific costumes and had the symbols of the chosen country painted on their face at the face-painting workshop. Then, the teams played the game of Finding the Treasure in the village and the locals could admire their clothes.

The organisers awarded a diploma to each child who took part in the play work activities. They were all thrilled about the event and they said they would like to live this experience again. The parents and the locals from Gherta Mica enjoyed the event as well, together with the children .

The play work activities were carried out by 6 play workers of STEA Association from Satu Mare, a teacher from the French association Hors la Rue and 3 teachers of the FRCCF Licuricii Community Centre. The activities were funded by Hors la Rue.

Through this programme, FRCCF aimed at contributing at children's development through play, at stimulating their fantasy and creativity, encouraging them to express themselves freely, revealing their skills, teaching them to work as a team, making them get an interest in new things and making them become tolerant and respect multiculturalism. Moreover, the foundation wanted to raise the awareness of the Gherta Mica community with regard to the importance of this kind of socialization activities to child development.