Can you think of any activities for children that are better when done outside? Sure, fireworks and things involving throwing or kicking a ball come to mind, but what about the other not-so-obvious ones?
During a recent trip to the special needs orphanage supported by Global Partners in Life, we did one activity that is definitely better when done outside. This activity was placing water-based paint on the children’s hands, and then having them make an imprint of their freshly painted hand on a canvas. Once that was done, with a little touch up and imagination, it looked like each child’s handprint made a fish. It really brought this to life when a water line in the form of a wave was also painted on the canvas.
It was actually funny to watch how the children reacted to having paint on their hands. Some embraced it, and some thought it was messy. Some just simply weren’t sure what to think about it, and others couldn’t wait to get their hand painted.
The children were proud of their art project! It was really cool to see how each child could recognize their handprint on the canvas. If you look at the top right section of the photograph above, you will get an idea of what the final project looked like. Also, here is a video of the process!
At the end of the day, the children had an opportunity to go outside and play — which doesn’t happen often, because there are not enough adults at the orphanage to watch all of the children. Also, they had been entertained and felt like someone cared for them, and their faces were full of smiles!
These are some of the things Global Partners in Life wants to provide for the abandoned children with special needs in China. This was definitely something new for them, and it worked out much better being done outside!
Can you imagine all of the children with paint on their hands with all of the opportunities to wipe the paint off onto something or someone inside?