Early Childhood Education/Early Years (Including emergency settings)

Child friendly spaces and clubs

To support the children, families and carers in your new community, two initiatives are particularly helpful:

Child-Friendly Spaces*: Children need to continue their education and play activities even in the midst of the conflict or disaster.  Child-Friendly Spaces are supervised areas that provide quiet areas, opportunities for play and talk. Perhaps where parents can safely leave their children to attend distribution points and perhaps find relatives.

Child Clubs*: Child clubs or play groups are very important in times of disruption. Typically, mothers and daughters in different families come together with the children to undertake activities together which are educational but fun (children learn best when feeling relaxed and safe). Sometimes there may be club ‘leaders’, otherwise families may take turns to run the club.

The clubs build children’s self-esteem and confidence, increase their access to information, develop their solidarity and leadership qualities, and provide opportunities for recreation and joyful learning. Communities around the world find these clubs helpful in times of adversity.

*Save the Children https://goo.gl/pcD4p7 With thanks to Mike Blamires