There is a lot of irony involved when I get to plan a trip to visit and play with the children at the special needs orphanage supported by Global Partners in Life. For those of you who know me well, you know I don’t have any children, so my skills with children are limited at best!

With a few of the groups I have taken to visit and play with the children, there have been some people that have been very creative with not only what they bring for the children, but also what they can do with and for the children once they are there! One big challenge is that you can’t use up much space or weight in your luggage, because of the restrictions enforced by the airlines. So, I have been very impressed with some of the games and activities that have been planned by the people going with me to the special needs orphanage. On one occasion a creative lady made these colorful devices to hang above the babies in their cribs. The children seemed entertained by them, so that was a big help for the workers.

When I am going alone, or if I am looking for ways to entertain the children, I have a couple of standbys that have always been a hit with the children. One sure hit is balloons! I think everyone loves them, and the other is blowing bubbles with the bottle of solution and the wand.

Sometimes the children will try to personalize a balloon, but I promise you the balloons don’t last very long! One thing that is interesting to me about the bubbles is that one of the older children still loves them and can sit and blow bubbles for hours.

If anyone has any suggestions for ways to entertain the children or games we can get for them, please let me know! If we didn’t go outside and play sometimes, I am afraid I would run out of ideas for them, so I am very thankful for the balloons and bubbles, because they never fail!