Rural children enjoy books, horse adventure, art and recycled skipping ropes
Author: info@klassikdigital.co.za
The extraordinary experiences that the YOUPSA Afterschool Enrichment Program offers to the children opens up their world and makes them thirsty to learn more. We would like to share with you some of our recent beautiful experiences.
Sharing books & stories together
What better way to spend the afternoon than reading stories together!
In various neighborhoods, YOUPSA has established Mobile Library & Reading Clubs. Other than these clubs, children have no access to books for reading for pleasure. Children absolutely love this opportunity to read together, discuss the topcs, learn new words, play games, and explore the world through books.
The magical experience of a horse adventure
One of our groups visited the Klein Karoo Horse Adventures farm. The children learned about saddle and bridle, how to mount and dismount. They were each assigned a horse, learned to touch it, smell it and communicate with it. After that the children led their horse to a ring where they were helped to mount it and then ride it. This extraordinary experience helped the children break their boundaries and heal trauma. Each of them could experience a deep connection and love for a beautiful and powerful animal.
Collaborative art
Art is a vital aspect of the YOUPSA programs. Rural children do not have opportunities to do art anywhere else in their life, and they always ask for more! During one afternoon, each of the YOUPSA children created their own individual slices of pizza in the form of drawings on card. When we put these slices of art together to make a whole, everyone was excited to see how their artistic contribution resulted in beautiful 'pizzas'.
Making skipping ropes from trash
We love helping children learn to make use of what is around them. Every child collected 15+ discarded plastic shopping bags from the bush, washed them and then learned the art of making a skipping rope out of them. At the end of the session the whole group was joyfully skipping with their new ropes - they were unstoppable!
