Neither snow blizzards, nor torrential rains, nor air raid alerts prevented our branches from becoming sunny islands of warmth and psychological support for children and parents in cold February. This month, the teams of the branches did their best to give children positive emotions. We have given each of the spaces its own special title of the month.
Loving Lviv branch
For Valentine’s Day, our employees held a master class on making Valentine’s cards for 18 children. Each child got creative and made his/her own valentine using different materials – glitter, beads, paints and felt.
And for teenagers, we organized a Valentine’s party with making friends, guitar songs, a quest, and a tea party accompanied by psychologists of the Foundation. The Youth Council of the Lviv branch joined the organization of the event – teenagers told their peers how the Foundation helped them, shared success stories, plans and ideas.
Playful Chernivtsi branch
For children aged 7-9, we held an art class “Helper: the Hero’s Path”. The children created a board game: the plot, challenges along the way, compliance with safety rules. Young developers drew a map and defined their rules of the game.
The employees of the branch organized a Shadow Theater with the teenagers. Participants found ways to express themselves, created props with a shadow, talked to it and improvised, developing acting skills and emotionality.
For parents, evenings of physical practices and rebozo massage were organized in the branch to relax their body and to relieve their nervous system.
Artistic Truskavets branch
Younger children discovered the unique Oshibana technique (pressed floristry – pictures painted with flowers). This type of arts helps to develop imagination, fantasy, patience, concentration and allows demonstrating artistic taste. This is an original way of expressing feelings and emotions. Each child created his/her own card, which he/she presented to a dear person.
An adult group of children demonstrated their imagination in pictures drawn with a solution of natural coffee. This is an interesting and original art therapy practice that develops creative thinking.
Also, “Teenager’s space” for children aged 12-15 was launched in Skhidnytsia in February. Its purpose is developing social and personal skills, assistance in self-realization and career guidance. Here the children will be able to show their talents and make friends.
Educational Ivano-Frankivsk branch
At the beginning of February, the Speaking Club for 12-14-year-olds started in the branch. This cycle of 10 classes is aimed at stimulating the cognitive activity of children. Thanks to interactive teaching methods, learning foreign languages becomes not a routine, but an interesting game process.
Also, such a concept contributes to the soft socialization and adaptation of the child in the group of peers, helping to find like-minded people, and comrades. Teenagers begin to bring their friends, communicate more lively and actively, and take the initiative in choosing topics for the next meeting. The children themselves propose new forms of work and direct the activities of the club in an interesting direction for them.
Healing Kryvyi Rih center
This month, we held group sessions for 25 children under the “Safe Space” program. After these sessions, the level of anxiety and other emotional and behavioral disorders in children significantly reduced. Children learn to master aggression, fears, overcome uncertainty, become more open. There are cases of reduction of stuttering, overcoming of phobias. In the group, children acquire positive communication skills. The meta-program is to teach the child to identify his/her feelings and own nature, to deal with stress and fears in an easy game form.
Parents were able to perform the same exercises that we teach children in order to feel the effect of these sessions.
Handicraft Branches in Kharkiv and the town of Vysoky
In February, various master classes were held here. The children created a bouquet of dried flowers, made cotton flowers with their own hands, and made a Ukrainian amulet. They painted gingerbread cookies together and prepared a three-dimensional heart for Valentine’s Day. In addition, classes were held in the branch where children learned to weave original bracelets from threads. It inspires, gives confidence, and additional resource to deal with today’s challenges. For children and parents, such activities are extremely important – they not only charge with positive energy and allow you to gain new experience but also improve communication skills and the ability to work in a team.