If you love kids, you will enjoy volunteering with children in India. The children at our partner projects come from poor families, and many have missed out on school. The centers give them meals, safety and a way back into learning, and volunteers add the extra attention a busy center rarely has time for.
Volunteering India places volunteers at shelter homes, non-formal education centers and schools in Delhi and Jaipur. The children range from little ones to young teenagers, often in the same room. India guarantees every child the right to education, yet many still fall through the gaps, and these projects try to reach them.
If you are planning to volunteer with children in India and wondering what to actually do with them, here are five activity ideas that keep children engaged while they learn something worthwhile.
1. Storytelling
Children who don’t love stories are rare. A good story keeps a group engaged for a long time, and it teaches as it goes: a story about animals can cover where they live, what they eat and the sounds they make. Don’t worry if you don’t share a language. Faces, voices, sounds and actions do most of the work.
Ask the children to act out parts of the story to make it interactive. Your first challenge is getting their attention; once you have it, the rest is easy.
2. Drawing and painting
Give children paper and colors and they will happily draw huts, trees, fish, hills and kites for ages. It sets their imagination free, and the results are wonderful: pink cows, orange pigeons, a red lotus confidently called a rose.
Bring some paper and colors, or buy them locally. Hold a small drawing competition, or draw something on the board for the children to copy. They will love it, and so will you.
3. Singing rhymes
You don’t have to be a good singer. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep” work every time. Sing with actions and ask the children to copy you.
Some will be shy at first, but as they relax they will join in. Rhymes build vocabulary, rhythm and confidence in a way textbooks can’t.
4. Crafts from waste materials
This works well with older children, roughly nine to fourteen. Collect clean waste such as bottles, newspapers, old pens and matchboxes, and show the children how to turn it into something useful or beautiful.
Praise their work, and use what they make to decorate the classroom so they can see what they have added. Check with the center staff before you start, so the activity fits their plans.
5. Origami
Mention origami and you will find most children already know how to make one thing out of paper: a boat, because floating paper boats in puddles is a monsoon tradition in India. Teach them to fold a fish, a flower or a bird and they will be delighted. A packet of colored paper costs little, and your coordinator can tell you where to buy one.
A few tips
- Follow the lead of the center staff. They know the children and plan the day.
- Plan for mixed ages and levels, and keep activities short and lively.
- Prepare more activities than you think you need, and keep one or two that need no materials at all.
- Ask before taking photos, and follow the center’s rules.
These activities keep children busy and help them learn creatively. Your time with them will stay special to you, so why not make it special for them too?
Want to know more about our projects with children? Email info@volunteeringindia.com, or see our street children program in Delhi and childcare program in Jaipur.