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Oricine aude
cuvintele Mele si le implineste se aseamana |
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| Find 10 differences |
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| Connect the dots |
A forum to share information, resources, ideas, and encouragement among Christians (Romany and non-Romany) working with Romany children.
![]() |
Oricine aude
cuvintele Mele si le implineste se aseamana |
![]() |
| Find 10 differences |
![]() |
| Connect the dots |
Here is another story with suggested activities centered around four words from the story.
Watch/see
·
Play “I spy with my little eye” also known as “I see something” or
“20 Questions”(Ik zie ik zie wat jij niet ziet). One person sees something.
Everyone else tries to guess what they see. The person who “sees” something can
only answer “yes” or “no”.
·
Leader leads the group in “seeing” by asking questions like:
·
Scavenger hunt. (Being aware of your environment; watching) See Davar Start Game: Spot the Shapes.
·
Any game from Davar
Start Games: Visual Skills.
·
Play Red Light/Green Light or similar game. Players have to watch to see if someone is
moving. The game is also about self-control, because players practice
controlling their own bodies.
One person is the caller or “traffic cop”. They stand at the end goal. Everyone
else stands behind the starting line. The goal is to get past the caller.
The caller stands with their back to the rest of the group. When the caller
says “Green light,” everyone can run towards the goal.
When the caller says, “Red light,” everyone freezes. The caller immediately
turns around. If they see anyone moving, that person has to go back to the
start line.
Children do not need to be familiar with traffic lights to play this game, as
long as the words for moving & for freezing in place are explained to them.
Give
·
Make something & give it to someone else (put a plant in a
pot; bake something; make a card; make flowers . . .). Doesn’t have to be
physical things. Could also be helping to pick up for other people. (Davar Letter Games: E3 and
E5)
·
Discussion: what can we
give? See what kids come up with. Time, possessions, praise (songs, to God),
being nice, pat on the back . . ..
Giving, not keeping for yourself.
Also discuss: How do you give? How did the widow give? What was good about how
she gave?
·
Give compliments. Discuss what a compliment is. Model giving
compliments. Then have the group practice this. Go around the circle and take
turns giving the person next to you a compliment. Or turn to the person next to
you and exchange compliments. Model this.
·
Find a Coloring page of woman giving the coins. Everyone colors
the picture, then gives it to someone. Reinforces that the children are doing
the same thing that the woman in the story did. (Many fun coloring sheets available on Lamb Songs, www.lambsongs.co.nz.)
·
Affirmation. You can give a handshake or a pat on the back. Might
do this as a group with each other.
Coins
·
Davar FUNdament
Thick, Thin, Thickest: 6.7
·
Learn the names of coins in local currency. Show kids different
local coins & teach them the names for them.
Or find worksheet online which teaches local currency.
OR Practice counting with the coins.
Might demonstrate that 5 of this coin = 1 of that coin, etc.
·
Stacking coins—see how high we can get them without tipping them
over. (Could be done in teams.) Shows that the more coins you have, the better
material standard of living you have.
·
Playing store. Set up small store with, among other things,
healthy treats (apples, etc.) which the children can ‘buy’. Each child has same
number of “coins.”
Have some items cost 2 coins. That’s what the woman gave—she gave all that she
had to live on.
With the coins you can get something—food, what you need to live.
(For an older group, you might make a sample budget.)
Extra/all
·
Dramatize the story (“Jesus”, “widow”, 1 or 2 “rich people”;
everyone else “disciples”). First give a visual of all vs extra. Give the
person playing the widow 2 “coins” (blocks, nuts, buttons, play coins); give the
rich person a lot more coins. Have the group count the coins that each person
is given.
Then have the group watch and count as each
person gives into the treasury (a box or something). The rich person gives a
lot, but not all of their coins.
Which person gave all?
Which person just gave extra? (if give 50% of what you have)
Compare & contrast the idea of all and extra. Everybody gave—but who gave all
and who gave extra (had extra for themselves)? How much does the rich
person have left? (Count as a group.)
·
Discuss a team game the group is familiar with that only has a
certain number on the team (football, baseball, cricket). If we play this game,
can everyone play? Can all the people in the group play this game? Or do
we need some to sit out as extras?
Which games can everyone (all) play? (example—Red Light, Green Light).
·
Dress up. Have a set of oversized clothes so that the children can
easily put these on over their own clothing; make sure to have one extra of
something that there should only be two of. Have a volunteer put on all
the clothes. Maybe have 3 shoes instead of 2. That would be an extra.
You can’t put on 3 shoes (if you put on all the shoes, you’d have to put them
on your hands).
·
Play a relay game with oversized clothes. The teams run to one end of the playing
field where the runner has to put on all the clothing (maybe just mittens &
a hat? A large t-shirt & a scarf?), then take it all off & run back.
People who work with Romany children need to be flexible. Sometimes 30 children come; sometimes only 3.
Four concrete words have been chosen from each Bible story. These words aid in remembering the story.
There are suggested activities to go with each of the 4 words. These Davar: Bridging to Literacy activities also practice school-related skills and help people of any age be more ready to read and write.
Esau and Jacob are born – Genesis 25:19-28
Nothing - Rebecca had no baby, nothing happened (prayer)
Twins - Rebecca had twins, two babies (answer to prayer)
Different - the boys were totally different, with different futures.
Tent - Jacob stayed home, in the tents, and helped his mother.
Suggested activities:
Nothing
FUNdament 11 Missing/Gone.
Give everyone a folded paper, some have a little sweet in it, others have nothing.
Nothing, a bit, enough, much, too much.
Explain the meaning of these words. Have each word written on a separate piece of paper. Put these at one end of the room.
Also have smaller pieces of paper for everyone in the group with one of these words written on it. Hand the papers out, so that each person has one.
At a certain signal, everyone runs to the word on the floor that matches the word in their own piece of paper.
Cook something together. Together, measure the right amount of ingredients. Or together feel/stir/taste and see if there is enough or too much.
Twins
FUNdament 9 Two - activities
Nice name? Parents choose names for their children. Discuss which names the group like. (This gives insight into the way the group thinks, and what they find important.)
Have each person make a paper hat with one of their favorite names written on it. Talk about a letter in that name.
Letter Game B8, variation 4. Everyone with an “A” in their name goes . . . (over by the window or stands by the red chair or . . . ). Everyone with a “J” in their name goes . . . .
Start Game B3 Mosaic, B5 Statues. Are all the statues (or mosaics) the same?
FUNdament 10 The Same. Make it fun, choose one person to do everything DIFFERENT while the others do the same
Draw differences. Everyone draws their own human figure. Then they draw another one which if very different than the first drawing.
Do a “see the differences” worksheet (Example with 2 houses, available via link).
Tent
But something extra fun happened recently. One of the children came up with a game . . . which they all played enthusiastically. The crayons and colored pencils were lined up in the middle of the work table. Then each child chose three . . . while blindfolded. The others watched attentively to see which three would be chosen. They each used their three random colors to "draw something beautiful."
Other activities included musical chairs (a favorite)
and making a family tree. This boy put God in the middle of his family!
Note that some of the children are using the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian as well as Romanian is widely used in Moldova. And just to make the linguistic situation more fun, at home the children speak their own Usari Romani. Olesea is extremely grateful for the mothers who translate into Usari so the youngest children will understand the Bible lesson AND the instructions for the games & activities.
The Bible story focused on Jacob marrying Leah and Rachel. Family and the names of Jacob's (many) children figured into the story. It took awhile for Jacob to put God in the middle of his family. May these children . . . and their parents . . . learn this lesson early on.
What can you learn by making a mug cake together? LITERACY, of course. We read the recipe--or we see someone reading the recipe. We see literacy in action. We see the value of being able to read. But we also practice:
HYGIENE: we all wash our hands before beginning.
WORKING TOGETHER: we all take turns stirring the cake batter and decorating the cake.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS: necessary for writing. (See how carefully we decorate with these tiny stars!)
PATIENCE: we have to wait while the cake bakes.
TAKING TURNS/SHARING: we all get a taste of the cake we helped make.
We also have the SATISFACTION OF A JOB WELL DONE!
(Davar: Bridging to Literacy Letter Game E3. Click on link to see versions in English, Romanian, or Dutch.)
A big thank-you to the children, moms, and leaders of the Mother-Child Club, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Moldova.
They do. But they do even more. When you repeat a
clear rhythm, you are unconsciously counting. Kids who have never been taught
to count can still accurately follow a rhythm like this one: clap,
clap-clap, pause, clap, or even far more complicated ones. This calls for a
sense of how many, for a sense of--you guessed it--numbers. It is math preparation.
So while these kids are clearly having fun, if they were following a set pattern they would also be practicing math skills.
Much more fun than drills like multiplication tables. Though there are Davar games that help with that, too . . . .