Play is the tool that children use to get to know themselves and the world around them. In early childhood, between 0 and 6 years old, this practice is essential for good development and according to UNICEF, about 30% of children in the world do not reach their full capacity due to lack of incentive.
With the objective of assisting in the development of children, the NGO Visão Mundial, the largest humanitarian non-governmental organization in the world and specialized in child protection, created Children's Day: The best gift is to be present, where it will promote play days in celebration of October 12, Children's Day. About 25,000 children will be encouraged to play, rescuing old games, scavenger hunts, building toys using recyclable material, etc., in Recife-PE, Inhapi-AL, Fortaleza-CE, São Paulo-SP, Nova Iguaçu-RJ, Salvador-BA, Governor Dix-Sept Rosado-RN. In Boa Vista-RR, Pacaraima-RR and Manaus-AM, the action will be with migrant and refugee children and adolescents.
On October 19, from 9 am to 3 pm, 100 volunteers will be present at Parque da Água Branca, in São Paulo, together with 10 other partner organizations, to help more than 300 children to have a day of play. Gymnastics and street games will be held, as well as workshops for making recyclable toys, biboloche and kite. The theater group of the Troupe de Festim will also present a play for the children on the day.
Children's Day: The best gift is to be present, part of the new Be Present campaign, which seeks to bring the importance of presence to a child's life. Presence that are often replaced by gifts. The objective is to bring the importance of this presence in the form of games for the development and safety of children. All actions start from the campaign's concept of calling partners and volunteers to be present in the children's lives. In addition, it will address the right to play and encourage, in addition to promoting recreational activities in all actions, reflecting on how violence has prevented children from enjoying the city to play.
In some places, children will be taken for a walk through the community in which they live, so that they look at the place and express, through drawings, what they would like to have to enjoy the right to play. The productions will be exposed so that the community also knows and reflects on what children want and need for their full development.
Children are exhaustively related to gifts. Gifts on birthday, gifts on Children's Day, gifts on Christmas. But what if we got it wrong, and the gift that really mattered was presence? The father, the grandmother, the friend, everyone can be the best gift. The best gift because, more important than the gift itself, is the experience it brings. It is this experience that the NGO wants to provide, of transforming a ball into a football game, an outfit on a day at the beach or a cell phone at a family lunch. To transform a gift into the best gift. Children need more than gifts; they need care and affection. The best gift is to be present.
Playing is recognized as a fundamental aspect in child development; the brain at this stage is twice as active as that of an adult. And to create this information network, the child needs to learn and experience new possibilities, increase social relationships, develop autonomy of action and organize emotions.
“In addition to being a right, playing has a fundamental role in child development. Children learn by playing. Pretending to play allows children to experience everyday situations, play social roles, deal with feelings and emotions. It is through symbolic play that children are able to explore and overcome their fears, understand social rules and exchange experiences with other children. It is through play that children are able to experience the situation that generates emotional discomfort, but with the possibility of using the imaginary world to better understand the world around them ”, says national education manager for World Vision Brazil, Andréa Freire.
About World Vision
World Vision Brazil is part of the World Vision International partnership, which is present in about 100 countries. In the country, World Vision has been active since 1975, benefiting 2.7 million people with projects in the areas of education, health / protection of children, economic development and promotion of citizenship. Its projects and programs prioritize children and adolescents who live in impoverished and vulnerable communities. In these 44 years of operations in Brazil, World Vision has consolidated itself as an organization committed to overcoming poverty and social exclusion. To learn more, visit the website visaomundial.org
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