Outdoor Leisure Education - OLE

Adriana, Ana, Alba, Daniel, Kika, Maja, Ivan, Natasha, Manuela Dincea :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAC4oVDDdbY

OLE in this 11 months - short version :)

Event "Our flag"

Human Rights Film Festival of Arad.

Today we did an event for the children we usually work with at school: OutOrdinary

We gathered two classes for two hours in the park where we played some games with them. Firstly, we divided them in two groups, while one played twister, the other did a multiple race, where they first needed to run in a sack, after run with a plastic spoon in their mouth with a pingpong ball on it, in the respective lines drawn on the ground, after run with one leg, then with the legs tied to each other and finally run back to the original line. As soon as the child would get there, the other would start his/her turn, running in the sack, and so on. The goal was to see which team would make it first, after all children had competed.

Secondly, we played the handkerchief game with them, where one of us was holding the handkerchief, and the children were again divided in two teams. In each team all the children had one number, 1, 2, 3... That would be the same in both teams. We would scream their respective number, and the children who had this number had to run to try to catch the handkerchief first.
Meanwhile, there were also present two youngsters from Integra. At first they were playing hopscotch on the floor, and after they also did the race, and even the twister at the end.

Everyone had fun, it was a different day for all of us!

Before we hit the road and go home, we decided to give Mihai Eminescu`s backyard a fresh look. We had the idea, the materials and most importantly we had the children to help us. And we all know that children are natural gardeners. They are curious, eager to learn by doing and love to play in the dirt. But, why we chose gardening at first place? Because by working in a garden a child can experience the satisfaction that comes from caring for something over time, while observing the cycle of life firsthand. Gardening gives children a chance to learn an important life skill, one that is overlooked in standard school curriculums. Nowadays children at school are bombarded by memorising numbers, dates, names, places...They are trained to remember but not to act. It is sad fact that throughout the years children lost their primary instincts. That is another reason why we need to make changes in the school system and allow the children to learn about the nature, the natural resources, the wildlife, the flora and fauna, the food...but not by memorising...by doing. It is now or never. Healthy habits for healthy generations.

Remember Saptamana Altfel? Let me remind you a bit.It is a week during which the children don`t go to school but they have outdoor activities instead.Usually, they do some sports, games competition or have a picnic. And what we did? We went to Șiria along with the children and their parents and had our own Indian-style picnic. First we raised a teepee and built the fire place. But for someone to leave there we needed Indians! Strangely, we couldn`t find Indians in Șiria so we decided to create ones. For that pusrpose we had two workshops: 1.The make-up studio and 2. The accessory department. The Indians were ready and hungry so we had to feed them. The fire was lit, the meat was on the table and all we had to do was to put it on a stick and leave the fire to do its magic. Yummy,it`s so nice to be an Indian... It was time to burn the extra callories and there is no better sport for that than football (especcially if you play it on a hill and someone needs to run for the ball). I don`t know if the Indians had a "siesta" but we definitely needed one so we packed our things and headed to Arad in the comfort of our beds. Indian life can be tiresome though...

Poney club
During septamana Atfel me and Ivan went to poney club twice, along with another volunteer from life plus Project. My role was to be with Sabina, a poney that the children could brush and pet and Ivan helped the children to ride another poney. We started the day brushing the poneys and then the children came. The children really liked the experience, Sabina is a very patient poney and handled sometimes 20 children around her very well. Every hour came a different group and we had to manage at one time 100 children/youngsters at the same hour. It was overall a good experience, to see the enthusiasm they had with the horses.

Doamnilor si Domnilor va prezint pe teatru Fantastic - Integra.
The artist SORIN DOROBANTU prepared a theater play for the people with Down Syndrom from the asociation for mental disabilities-Integra.

Even beyond their sensitive health condition, they showed that they are able to express their emotions and feelings through theater play. The play lasts 10 minutes, minutes full with happiness, joy and love.
Last week they had their premiere in the School of Art "Sabin Dragoi".
Parents, friends and students from the School of Art were there to encourage them and applauded for the successful show.

This week we realized that we have been eating too many chocolates, so we decided to share some. But as we like to make things fun, we didn't just give the chocolate to the kids... We made it the prize of an amazing treasure hunt in Vladimirescu forest! The kids had to do a lot of activities and follow clues to get to the objective... The hidden treasures with the surprise inside! It was so much fun to see the kids enjoying the nature and searching for the clues! And one thing is certain: These kids are amazing detectives :)