UNICEF Education Kit Handbook

Early Childhood
Development Kit Guidance
UNICEF Education Kit Handbook

Early Childhood
Development Kit Guidance
 UNICEF Education Kit Handbook

INTRODUCTION

The UNICEF Education in Emergencies (EiE) Handbook is a tool that provides training and curricular guidance
in support of UNICEF pre-packaged education kits. This is the first version of the handbook and it has only
been partially field tested. As such, all feedback is critical and welcome to help inform the planned revision.
Please contact the Education Unit at UNICEF Supply Division with all relevant input, criticism and suggestions.

The handbook is available in French and English. Each education kit shipped from Supply Division will contain
the relevant module. Module One, the overall guidance module, is available upon request, or on the UNICEF
website, along with all the other modules.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Handbook was developed over eighteen months by UNICEF staff from the Programme Education
sections in New York and Geneva and from Supply Division in Copenhagen. This document was developed
through a consultative process led by a consultant that was guided by a reference group composed of
UNICEF staff from Country Offices, Regional Offices and HQ locations. It was also independently reviewed
at various stages by other UNICEF staff. A special thank you goes to all those who supported this project.

Project Managers: Ms Pilar Aguilar, Senior Education Adviser, UNICEF Geneva and Mr Chris Cormency, Chief,
Water, Sanitation and Education Centre (WSEC), Supply Division, UNICEF Copenhagen
Writer: Ms Miresi Busana
Edited, produced and distributed by WSEC.
First Edition 2013

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KEY TERMINOLOGY

Definition of Child: The terms child and children refer to all children and young people from birth to 18 years
of age, as specified in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. If a particular age group of children is
intended, this will be made clear in the text.

Age groups: It is important to highlight that age groups can vary according to context and culture. Indicatively
the Handbook targets the age groups below:

1) Infants, toddlers and pre-school children approximately from birth to seven/eight years.
2) Young adolescents between ten and fourteen years.
3) Older adolescents between fifteen and nineteen years.
4) Youths are adolescents and young adults between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four years
(Reference: United Nations definitions)

Definition of Pupil(s) and Student(s): Terms pupil(s) and student(s) refer to children taught by a teacher.
They are interchangeable.

Definition of Instructor(s), Caregiver(s) and Teacher(s): The term instructor(s) refers to the personnel
implementing the semi-structured recreational activities (Module Two). The term caregiver(s) refers to the
personnel implementing early childhood education activities (Module Three). The term teacher(s) refers to the
personnel implementing basic primary education and primary mathematics and science education (Module
Four, Module Five and Module Six). NOTE   Volunteers are non-paid members of the local community who voluntarily help
in the implementation of the activities. They are not members of staff but they should sign a Code of Conduct.

Definition of Trainer(s): The term trainer(s) refers to the personnel delivering the training to instructors,
caregivers and teachers (Module One).

Definition of Trainee(s): The term trainee(s) refers to those who receive training. They can be (1) the trainers
during the Training of Trainers (TOT) or (2) the instructors, caregivers and/or teachers receiving the training
from the trainers.

Definition of Child-Friendly Spaces/Environment(s): The term Child-Friendly Spaces/Environment(s) (CFS/

Es) is used in a broad sense. It is important to highlight that there is a broad and developing literature on the
definition(s) of CFS/Es that involves different disciplines. Also the terminology used to indicate CFS/Es can
vary among agencies. In the Handbook the term CFS/Es can refer to:

• C
 FS/Es, which are ‘places designed and operated in a participatory manner, where children affected by
natural disasters or armed conflict can be provided with a safe environment, where integrated programming
including play, recreation, education, health, and psychosocial support can be delivered and information
about services/supports is provided. Generally Child-Friendly Spaces refer to relatively short to medium
term programme responses. They are very often operated from tents and/or temporary structures (e.g. in
schools, under a tree or a vacant building).’ UNICEF, 2009, ‘A Practical Guide for Developing Child-Friendly
Spaces’, p.9.

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• T emporary Learning Spaces (TLS), which are set up in the immediate aftermath of an emergency.
• Alternative Learning Spaces (ALS), which can be ‘set up just about anywhere according to the context.
Alternative learning spaces can be churches, mosques, temples, community halls, rooms within the
community chief’s office, libraries, a compound, allocated land and an unused room in a private house or
even a boat’. UNICEF, 2009, ‘Child Friendly Schools Manual’, Chapter 4, p.22.
• Existing or rehabilitated schools.
• Child Friendly Schools (CFS) as defined in the UNICEF, 2009, ‘Child Friendly Schools Manual’.

Three key reference documents, which can be downloaded via the UNICEF website, provide further
information on Child Friendly Spaces: (1) ‘A Practical Guide for Developing Child-Friendly Spaces’, UNICEF,
2009; (2) ‘Guidelines for Child Friendly Spaces in Emergencies’, 2011, Field-testing version developed and
reviewed by the Global Education Cluster, Global Protection Cluster, INEE and IASC; (3) ‘Child Friendly
Schools Manual’, UNICEF, 2009, New York.

KEY GRAPHIC MARKS:

The following icons aim at facilitating the comprehension of the text:

1. KEY MESSAGE summarises important learning content in a nutshell.

2. TRAINING provides indications on how to convey the KEY MESSAGES during the training
session.

3. NOTE NOTE indicates a suggestion, tip, encouragement, clarification and idea.

4. THINK invites readers to reflect on their own experience and context.

5. LEARNING indicates what is expected to be learned. It can help in monitoring and

OUTCOMES evaluating the progress of learning.

6. TABLES are lists of items.

7. PICTURES are visual examples of key concepts described in the text.

8. BOX summarises general contents and helps to visualise them all together.

9. SAMPLES are examples of what teachers and caregivers are expected to do.

10. YOUR ROLE summarises what is expected from the trainer in Module One and from the
instructors, caregivers and teachers in Modules Two, Three, Four, Five and Six.

11. CASE STUDY are examples of education interventions already implemented.

12. Check list indicates important points to consider before and during the implementation of
the activities.

13. ACTIVITY indicates the beginning of a new chapter in a unit.

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INTRODUCTION TO TEXT

1.  Rationale of the EiE Handbook

The right to education is most at risk during emergencies and during the transition period following a crisis.
In conflict-affected countries, 28 million children of primary school age were out of school in 2011 – 42 per
cent of the world total. Only 79 per cent of young people are literate in conflict-affected countries, compared
with 93 per cent in other poor countries. Moreover, children living in conflict are twice as likely to die before
their fifth birthday as children in other poor countries.

The Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action – the CCCs – constitute UNICEF’s central
humanitarian policy to uphold the rights of children affected by humanitarian crisis. They are a framework
for humanitarian action, around which UNICEF seeks to engage with partners. The updated CCCs continue
to promote predictable, effective and timely collective humanitarian action and to clearly outline the areas in
which UNICEF can best contribute to results including education.

In addition, the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) has developed the Minimum
Standards Handbook. The Handbook is designed to give governments and humanitarian workers the tools
they need to address the Education for All movement and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It
is the first step toward ensuring that education initiatives in emergency situations provide a solid and sound
basis for post-conflict and disaster reconstruction. Both instruments have been complementary and critical
in the preparedness and response of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Humanitarian Reform
launched in 2005 that established the education cluster approach.

UNICEF believes that education is not only a basic human right; it is an instrumental strategy for supporting
recovery. It not only restores schooling and all its related benefits to affected people, it also helps countries
transform and rebuild the institutions and systems destroyed during the emergency. Re-establishing education
after an emergency not only safeguards children’s fundamental right to education, it also plays a critical role in
normalising their environment. This helps them overcome the psychosocial impact of disasters and conflict.

Back-to-School (BTS) Initiatives: a strategy to put into action the CCCs

UNICEF and partners coordinate with Ministries to provide safe temporary learning spaces; teaching
and learning materials; and training of teachers, parents, education officials and others to provide quality
education, reduce drop-out and promote student retention. In essence, the BTS initiative offers a way to put
the CCCs into practice.

With the introduction of the first UNICEF-supported BTS Initiative after the Rwandan genocide in 1994,
these initiatives have become a powerful first response and strategy in facilitating access to protective
learning environments for approximately 27 million children affected by conflict and natural disasters. These
initiatives have been implemented with great success in over 55 countries in the period 1994-2012, including
Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Lebanon, the State of Palestine, South Sudan, and Uganda. BTS Initiatives
are characterised by 1) the establishment of robust targets for numbers of children to return to some form
of education as quickly as possible after the onset of the emergency, 2) rapid deployment of education
supplies in the form of kits as well as teaching and learning materials to aid in resumption of education,
3) establishment of some form of temporary learning infrastructure as needed, combined with the rapid

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repair of damaged schools, and 4) intensive advocacy, communication and social mobilisation efforts with
governments, communities, donors and partner organizations.

The Handbook aims at providing training and curricular guidance related to existing pre-packaged materials or
kits. It is intended to strengthen the impact of UNICEF from the initial first response of pedagogical supplies
to one of fostering learning, growth and development. With the Handbook, the education kits, and proper
teacher training, it will be possible to extend the utility of the individual kits, improving the quality of the initial
education response in BTS initiatives.

2.  Objectives of the Handbook

a) To provide curricular guidelines and instructions on how to use the teaching aids contained in the kits for
teachers, caregivers and instructors working in emergency contexts. A printed copy of each curriculum is
contained in the related kit.
b) To provide training guidelines for the trainers involved in the emergency response.

The complete Handbook is available for download via the UNICEF website.

3.  Overview of the Handbook

BOX 1: Overview

MODULE CURRICULUM KIT TARGET GROUP(S)

Module One Guidelines for Training of Trainers No specific kit Trainers

Module Two Recreation Kit Guidance Recreation Kit Instructors

Module Three Early Childhood Development Kit Early Childhood Education Caregivers
Guidance (ECD) Kit

Module Four School in a Box Kit Guidance School-in-a-Box (SiB) Kit Teachers

Module Five Mathematics Kit Guidance Primary Mathematics Kit Teachers

(PMK)

Module Six Science Kit Guidance Primary Science Kit (PSK) Teachers

4. Target groups of the Handbook

The Handbook targets three groups:

a) The actors involved in the preparedness and coordination of the education response to emergencies.
These actors are responsible for purchasing the teaching aids, identifying and setting up the learning
spaces and providing the training of trainers and of teachers, caregivers and instructors according to the
contextual needs and priorities. They are UNICEF personnel from HQ, Regional and/or Country Offices
and Focal Points and representatives of the Ministry of Education (MOE) or other Education Authorities
involved in the preparedness and coordination of the education response in emergencies. They can be
members of staff of Implementing Partners (IP) such as International Non-Governmental Organizations
(INGOs), National Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and local Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) and/or practitioners.

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b) The trainers involved in the training of teachers, caregivers and instructors before (pre-service training)
and possibly also during (in-service training) the response to the emergency according to the specific
contextual needs. Usually the EiE/C trainers are trained in advance and are strategically positioned, for
example in Regional Offices, in order to provide a rapid response to emergencies.
c) The teachers, the caregivers and the instructors who directly implement the EiE curricula with the
support of the teaching aids contained in the related education kit.

5.  Overview of the UNICEF Education Response in Emergencies

The UNICEF education response in emergencies takes a ‘phased-approach’. Box 2 below provides an
overview by phase. It is important to highlight that the Handbook can also be used in non-emergency
settings.

BOX 2: Overview of the UNICEF Education Response in Emergencies

PHASE TIME-LINE ACTIVITIES

PHASE Preparedness: • Trainers are identified and trained.

ZERO: Before the emergency. • The UNICEF education kits are strategically pre-positioned.

PHASE Rapid Response: • CFS/Es are identified and set-up according to the context.
ONE: The first eight weeks from the • Education kits are distributed.
onset of the emergency. Acute • Semi-structured recreational activities are implemented and are
phase of the emergency. linked to non-formal education programmes.
• Teachers, caregivers and instructors are recruited and trained.

PHASE Early Recovery: • N on-formal education is implemented while the national education
TWO: Approximately between eight system is rehabilitated.
weeks and six months from the • The national curricula and the related textbooks in use before the
onset of the emergency. Acute emergency are recovered.
phase of the emergency. • If it is not possible to recover the national curricula and the related
textbooks, new national curricula are developed in collaboration
with the Ministry of Education (MOE) or other Education
Authorities.
• Textbooks related to the new curricula are developed and printed.
• In the case of refugees, links are established with the education
curricula of the country of origin.

PHASE Transition Phase: • Children resume formal schooling.

THREE: After approximately six to eight • The formal curriculum is introduced.
months from the onset of the • Textbooks are distributed.
emergency.

References: Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), 2006, ‘Guidance Note on Using the Cluster Approach to Strengthen
Humanitarian Response’, Geneva.
UNICEF, 2010, ‘Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action’, New York, p.3.
UNICEF, 2010, ‘Emergency Field Handbook’, New York, pp. 220 – 242.

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• Types of Education provided by the EiE Non-Formal Curriculum

The EiE/C Non-Formal Curriculum provides different types of education according to the specific context and
needs.

Formal Education refers to the national education system of a country implemented and managed by
the Ministry of Education (MoE) or other Education Authorities. Formal education implies the existence of
national curricula and related textbooks. UNICEF EiE/C Primary Mathematics Education (Module Five) and
Primary Science Education (Module Six) are intended as an extra support to existing curricula and reference
textbooks.

Non-Formal Education (NFE) targets specific disadvantaged groups who due to their circumstances need
ad-hoc, tailored educational programmes. Alternative Learning Programmes (ALP) for Refugees and Internally
Displaced People (IDPs) are an example of NFE. NFE programmes are not an alternative to formal education.
Early Childhood Development Education (Module Three) and Basic Primary Education (Module Four) are also
NFE programmes.

Informal Education is complementary to Formal and Non-Formal education programmes. Informal Education
provides extra-curricular activities in informal settings, such as youth clubs or informal groups. Informal
Education activities are not implemented during Formal or Non-Formal Education hours. Informal Education
is not a substitute for Formal or Non-Formal Education. Recreational Activities (Module Two) provide Informal
Education activities.

BOX 3: Types of Education provided by the UNICEF EiE/C Curriculum

CURRICULUM AND KIT TARGET GROUP TYPE OF EDUCATION

Recreational Activities – Recreation Approximately 7/8 – 19 year-old Informal Education complementary

Kit children and adolescents to Formal and Non-Formal education.

Early Childhood Education – ECD Kit Approximately 0 – 6 year-old infants, Non-formal Education
toddlers and pre-school children

Basic Primary Education – Approximately 7/8 – 19 year-old Non-Formal Education for

School-in-a-Box (SIB) Kit children and adolescents Beginners (B) and Non-beginners
(N).

Primary Mathematics Education – Approximately 7/8 – 19 year-old Formal Education

PMK children and adolescents

Primary Science Education – PSK Approximately 7/8 – 19 year-old Formal Education

children and adolescents

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• Deployment of the UNICEF Education Kits

The deployment of the UNICEF education kits is in line with the different phases of the emergency. BOX 4
below provides an indicative overview of the deployment of the kits by phase.

BOX 4: Deployment of the Education Kits according to the Phase of the Emergency

PHASE ONE: Rapid Response Recreation – Kit

Early Childhood Development Kit

PHASE TWO: Early Recovery Recreation Kit

Early Childhood Development Kit

School-In-a-Box Kit

PHASE THREE: Transition Phase Recreation Kit

Early Childhood Development Kit

School-In-a-Box Kit

Primary Mathematics Kit

Primary Science Kit

• Training related to the implementation of the Handbook

The Handbook requires two sets of training:

• T raining of Trainers (TOT). Trainers are trained on how to set-up and deliver the training to instructors,
caregivers and teachers. Module One provides the training guidelines related to the EiE/C Curricula.
Trainers are identified and trained on the Handbook during the preparedness phase.
• Training of Instructors, Caregivers and Teachers. Instructors, caregivers and teachers implementing the
EiE/C Curricula should receive a pre-service training, which can be followed-up by an in-service training
according to their specific needs and context. Instructors, caregivers and teachers are trained on the
specific Module they are going to implement. Instructors will be trained on Module Two, caregivers will
be trained on Module Three and teachers will be trained on Modules Four, Five or Six.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT (ECD)
EDUCATION
Welcome to Module Three of the UNICEF Education in Emergencies
LEARNING
(EiE) Handbook. In this module you will learn how to implement the
OUTCOMES
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Curriculum with the support of the
At the end of Module Three you UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD) education Kit in a context of
will be able to: emergency and crisis. The UNICEF ECD Curriculum targets children from
1. Identify the contents of the birth to 8 years. Each education kit provides pedagogical materials for
UNICEF Early Childhood approximately 50 children. The ECD Curriculum and Kit are also suitable
Development (ECD) Kit for settings with limited educational resources.
2. Demonstrate how to
implement learning activities
using the tools of the ECD You are about to play a major role in the life of many young children who
Kit find themselves in difficult and new circumstances, either because they
3. Demonstrate how to are living in conflict areas or because they have survived a natural disaster.
implement psychosocial
activities Many of these children have experienced traumatic and distressing
4. Demonstrate how to events that suddenly changed their lives. It is highly likely that you have
implement child-protection experienced the same events.
activities
5. Identify and convey
contextually and culturally You may already have some experience in caring for young children,
relevant lifesaving messages or you may be very new to it. This module aims at providing practical
guidelines and tools that can help you in your tasks as an ECD caregiver.
However, the success of the activities provided will be determined by
NOTE   IPs can be local Non- your engagement with the families, the local community and authorities,
Governmental Organizations your capacity to deal positively with that challenges you will be facing,
(NGOs), Community-Based
Organizations (CBOs) and/ and your dedication to the well-being of the children in your care.
or representatives of the local
education authorities that
collaborate with UNICEF in the
You will be working closely with other caregivers, and with parents,
implementation of the ECD community members, local authorities and other support staff, to facilitate
interventions.
the good management of a Child-Friendly Space/Environment (CFS/E).
In addition, you will be collaborating with UNICEF personnel and/or the
NOTE   UNICEF personnel can be
Implementing Partners (IPs) appointed by UNICEF. It is likely that many of
part of the education, protection, the challenges you encounter will not be solved immediately—therefore,
water and sanitation (WASH) and your patience, creativity and initiative will go a long way toward ensuring
shelter programs.
that your efforts are successful.

Please use the following guidelines in your best capacity and use your
NOTE   This module is part of best judgment in applying them to your context. Thank you for your
the UNICEF EiE Handbook and
requires your participation in a valuable contribution!
teachers’ training workshop.

Early Childhood Development Kit Guidance 1

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Early Childhood Development Kit Guidance

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... iii

MODULE three: EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (ECD) EDUCATION.......................................... 1

UNIT ONE: DESCRIPTION OF THE ITEMS CONTAINED IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD

DEVELOPMENT (ECD) KIT......................................................................................................................... 4
ACTIVITY ONE: What teaching and learning materials can I find in the UNICEF ECD Kit?...................... 5
• Storage of the UNICEF ECD Kit.................................................................................................. 8
• Maintenance and restock of the ECD Kit materials .................................................................... 8
ACTIVITY TWO: How can I use the teaching and learning materials of the UNICEF ECD Kit in the
implementation of activities?.................................................................................................................. 9
• Art and Craft activities ................................................................................................................ 10
• Playing activities.......................................................................................................................... 11
• Expressive activities.................................................................................................................... 19
• Reading activities........................................................................................................................ 21

UNIT TWO: PSYCHOSOCIAL ACTIVITIES.................................................................................................. 23
ACTIVITY ONE: Art and Craft (A&C) Psychosocial Activities.................................................................... 25
ACTIVITY TWO: Play, Relax and Assurance (PRA) Psychosocial Activities............................................... 32

UNIT THREE: CHILD-PROTECTION ACTIVITIES........................................................................................ 37

ACTIVITY ONE: Older children taking care of younger children............................................................... 38
ACTIVITY TWO: Messages and activities that can contribute to the protection of children.................... 42

UNIT FOUR: LIFESAVING MESSAGES ACTIVITIES................................................................................. 45

ACTIVITY ONE: Education messages and learning activities that can prevent or
mitigate situations of risk........................................................................................................................ 46
• Mines and explosives remnant of war (ERW) activities.............................................................. 46
• Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities..................................................................................... 47
• Develop the ‘Keep safe plan’ ...................................................................................................... 48
• Health promotion activities......................................................................................................... 51
ACTIVITY TWO: Peace and reconciliation activities................................................................................. 52

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Early Childhood Development Kit Guidance

TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: How to use stringed beads in the stimulation of infants............................................................ 14
FIGURE 2: Pre-cut hands.............................................................................................................................. 25
FIGURE 3: The cooperation game playing field............................................................................................. 54

TABLE OF TABLES
TABLE 1: List of the materials contained in the UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD)
Education Kit................................................................................................................................................. 5
TABLE 2: Adult/child supervision ratio.......................................................................................................... 38
TABLE 3: Fire drills and instructions for emergencies.................................................................................. 48

TABLE OF CHECK LISTS

CHECKLIST 1: Involving parents and guardians........................................................................................... 24
CHECKLIST 2: Tips on how to positively interact and talk to children about their drawings......................... 30
CHECKLIST 3: Older children taking care of younger children..................................................................... 39
CHECKLIST 4: Assess disasters in your context.......................................................................................... 48

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 UNIT ONE:

DESCRIPTION OF
THE PEDAGOGICAL
MATERIALS
CONTAINED IN THE
EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT (ECD) KIT
In this Unit you will learn to identify the different pedagogical materials
LEARNING
contained in the UNICEF ECD Kit, and how to use them in the
OUTCOMES
implementation of the activities. Some of these materials may be new to
At the end of Unit One you will you—therefore, it is very important that you take the necessary time to
be able to: familiarize yourself with them.
1. Identify the materials
contained in the UNICEF
ECD Kit
2. Explain how to store and
restock the UNICEF ECD Kit
3. Demonstrate how to
implement learning activities

YOUR ROLE is to familiarize yourself with the items contained in the

UNICEF ECD Kit, and understand how to use them in the implementation
of the activities.

The objective of Unit One is to provide general guidelines on how to plan

and implement the Training of Trainers. It also provides gender guidelines.

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ACTIVITY ONE:
What teaching and learning materials can I find in the
UNICEF ECD Kit?
NOTE   It is possible that some of
the items listed in Table 1 are not The following table provides a list of the materials contained in the UNICEF
the same as the ones you re- ECD Kit. It includes a picture, the quantity, and a short description of each
ceived. Your task is to identify and

UNIT ONE
record all of the items and the of the materials. Read it carefully and check to ensure that all of the
quantities you received, so that materials are present in the box you received. Take the time to count the
you can keep track of the materi-
als and restock if necessary. materials and familiarize yourself with the contents.

Table 1: List of the materials contained in the

UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD) Education Kit

# ITEMS PICTURE QUANTITY in each box DESCRIPTION and USE

Art and craft materials

1 Drawing pads 20 drawing pads of 48 plain Use: For art and craft activities, for writing
white sheets each rota posters, for keeping records and for
writing notice messages.

2 Colored pencils 144 colored pencils Use: For art and craft activities for 2 to 6 year
old children.

3 Jumbo, big size, wax 48 big wax crayons of Use: For art and craft activities for 2 to 3 year
crayon assorted colors old children.

4 Normal size wax 24 normal wax crayons of Use: For art and craft activities for 3 to 6 year
crayons assorted colors old children.

5 Pencils 20 pencils Use: For drawing and pre-school writing.

6 Pencil sharpeners 20 pencil sharpeners Use: Suitable for pre-school children.

7 Soft erasers 20 soft erasers for pencil Use: Suitable for pre-school children.

8 Safety scissors 10 safety scissors Use: For art and craft activities for 3 to 8 year
old children.

9 Plain white paper roll 1 roll of plain white paper Use: For art and craft activities, for writing
rotas and activities schedules, and to use as
drawing paper for large drawings.

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10 Colored paper pads 10 A4 size pads of 50 sheets Use: For art and craft activities, as drawing
each paper and notice posters.

11 Transparent adhesive 20 pieces of transparent Use: For posting drawings and posters on
tape adhesive tape the wall, and for art and craft activities

12 Modeling clay 40 pieces of assorted colors Use: For playing activities for 2 to 8 year old
modeling clay children.

13 Glue 1 bottle of glue (170 ml) Use: For collages and art and craft activities
for 2 to 8 year old children.

Reading materials
14 Cardboard book 1 cardboard book Cardboard book suitable for storytelling to 0
to 3 year old children.

Playing materials - toys

15 Building blocks 50 colored pieces of different Use: For playing activities for 2 to 8 year old
sizes children.

16 Jigsaw wooden 24 pieces of wooden jigsaw Use: For playing activities for 3 to 6 year old
puzzle puzzle children.

17 Counting circle 20 removable wooden pieces Use: For playing activities for 4 to 8 year old
children. Suitable for pre-school numeracy
activities.

18 Chain puzzle 5 wooden pieces of different Use: For playing activities for 1 to 2 year old
colors children.

19 Puzzle blocks 12 blocks with different Use: For playing activities for 3 to 6 year old
images on each side children.

20 Shape-sorter 1 plastic box with 5 cm pieces Use: For playing activities for 6 months to 6
of different colors and shapes year old children.

21 Stack and sort set 19 pieces of different shapes Use: For playing activities for 2 to 6 year old
and colors children. Suitable for pre-school numeracy
activities.

22 Dominoes set 28 plastic pieces with color- Use: For playing activities for 3 to 8 years old
coordinated dots children. Suitable for pre-school numeracy
activities.

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23 Stringing beads 50 wooden beads of different Use: To create toys for infants and for playing
colors and shapes activities for 3 to 8 year olds children.

24 Memory game 32 cards with different pairing Use: For playing activities for 2 to 8 year old
images children.

UNIT ONE
25 Board puzzle 1 board and 8 wooden pieces Use: For playing activities for 0 to 3 year old
without pegs children.

26 Sponge balls 5 assorted color sponge balls Use: For playing activities for 0 to 8 year old
children.

Expressive activities
27 Hand animal-puppets 6 soft hand animal puppets Use: For storytelling and playing activities for
0 to 8 year old children.

28 Finger animal-puppets 6 soft finger animal puppets Use: For storytelling and playing activities for
0 to 8 year old children.

Caregiver materials
29 Soap 5 wrapped bars of soap Use: To wash children’s hands and for
personal hygiene.

30 Plastic water 5 PVC water containers of 10 Use: To store safe drinking water for the
container liters each children.

31 Exercise books 10 exercise books of 96 pages Use: For record keeping—for example, to
each register the names of children and mark their
attendance daily and also to take notes.

32 Black pens 10 black ball-point pens Use: To write on paper.

33 Decal UNICEF 2 UNICEF transferrable Use: To mark, where suitable and safe,
stickers stickers UNICEF property.

34 T-shirts with UNICEF 2 blue cotton T-shirts with Use: For ECD caregivers and volunteers.
logo UNICEF logo NOTE Items with the UNICEF logo should
only be used in relation to ECD activities

35 Flip chart markers 8 flip chart markers of Use: For writing on flip charts and paper. Not
assorted colors to be used on blackboards.

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36 Metal box 1 metal box with 2 code Use: To safely store the ECD Kit materials.
padlocks

37 Carrier bags 5 carrier bags with UNICEF Use: For the ECD caregivers to carry and/or
logo store materials.

38 Module Three: ECD 1 booklet Use: To guide ECD caregivers in the

Education implementation of the ECD activities.

NOTE   Not
• Storage of the UNICEF ECD Kit
all ECD Kits come in
a metal box; occasionally ECD The metal box is designed to store the ECD Kit materials safely.It is
materials are contained in a car- recommended to carry the box with all the contents to a safe place
ton box
when the ECD activities are over. Sometimes ECD caregivers do not use
the ECD Kit materials for fear of spoiling the new items and prefer to
NOTE   Responsibility for the safe keep them in the head teacher’s office or in the store. UNICEF ECD Kit
storage and transport of the ECD materials are intended to stimulate learning, provide playing opportunities
Kit to the ECD center can be
shared among the volunteers and
and be used in psychosocial activities—therefore, they must be used
the caregivers. regularly. Please make sure that you use the ECD pedagogical materials
in the implementation of the ECD Curriculum activities.

YOUR ROLE is to make sure that the ECD materials are available to all
children, that they are used regularly, and that they are not lost, stolen or
intentionally damaged.

• Maintenance and restock of the ECD Kit materials

ECD Kit materials must be properly maintained to ensure safe play as
well as long use. The consumable items of the ECD Kit are expected to
last for approximately 3 months.

ECD kits can be restocked through:

1. External restock. When recreational materials are not available locally,

they are purchased externally, usually with the support of the UNICEF
Supply Office or through the Implementing Partners (IPs).
2. Local restock. Recreational materials are purchased in the local
market, usually through the IPs or with the support of the local
community. In this case make sure that the materials meet universal
standards of good quality and safe use. Local restock encourages
NOTE   Generally offices are very community participation and sustainability of the kits.
happy to give you scrap paper to 3. Recycle local materials. Use your imagination and initiative and
recycle. Local shops are also very
happy to give away packaging identify local available materials like empty plastic bottles, bottle
containers. Ask the shopkeeper lids, and pieces of wood that can be used in the development of
to keep the materials for you.
recreational activities. Recycling local materials reduces costs.

8 Early Childhood Development Kit Guidance

 To prolong the life-span of the ECD Kits and enjoy them for a longer time,
THINK: Did you familiarize yourself
with all the items of the UNICEF make it a routine to check the ECD Kit materials and keep a record of
ECD Kit? Are there any items that them. If something is missing, ask the children and the volunteers if they
you are not sure how to use in the
learning activities? Discuss it with know where the items are located. Sometimes it is easy to misplace
your colleagues (other caregivers) things, especially if you are in a hurry to tidy up the place. Make sure that
and/or UNICEF staff or IPs.
children do not bring pieces of the toys home—it is very easy for children

UNIT ONE
to put small objects in their pockets and forget about them. Make it a
routine to ask children and volunteers to return all the ECD materials to
the box after use. It is very likely that after some time the play items will
NOTE   Remember NOT to leave get dirty, because children will enjoy touching and exploring them. Wash
materials outdoors, as rain, high the toys regularly and ask the children to wash their hands before playing
temperatures and dew can cause
damage. with them, especially if it is just after when they have been eating. This
will promote personal hygiene and also develop a sense of care.

ACTIVITY TWO:
How can I use the teaching and learning materials of the
UNICEF ECD Kit in the implementation of activities?

The UNICEF ‘Early Childhood Development Kit: a Treasure

Box of Activities’ focuses specifically on the implementation of
activities using the toys contained in the ECD Kit. You can
download a pdf copy of the ‘UNICEF Treasure Box of Activities’
from https://supply.unicef.org.

The objective of the ECD Kit and curriculum is to provide essential

materials that can assist you in developing learning, psychosocial and
child-protection activities and communicate lifesaving messages to the
children. In the following section, you can find some ideas on how to use
the contents of the ECD Kit to implement activities suitable for children
between birth and approximately 8 years of age.

YOUR ROLE is to use the materials to develop activities that respect and
engage the local culture, and that are relevant to the target children in
situations of emergency and crisis.

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• Art and craft activities

In the ECD Kit there are several materials that can be used for art and
NOTE   Display
the work of the craft activities. Below are suggestions on how to implement activities
children around the classroom; it
will help to make it more color- using the art and craft materials listed in Activity One of this unit.
ful and to make children proud
of their work—or if they prefer,
allow the children to bring their  D rawing by theme. Each week you can select a theme—for example:
work home. the seasons; domestic and wild animals; members of the family;
trees; and flowers. These themes will guide the drawing activities.
 Drawing by message. Identify important lifesaving messages that
are relevant in your context, and use drawing sessions as a way to
convey these messages. See Unit Four of this module for activities
that convey lifesaving messages.
 Collages and mosaics. Use natural leaves, flowers, paper, cloth, and
NOTE   Some of the children may
cut out figures from magazines and newspapers to create stories,
not know their birthdays. If so,
just ask them to pick a date that by sticking them on a poster and coloring around them. You can use
they like as a birthday date. The pieces of scrap paper from magazines to create collages.
aim is to celebrate a special day
for each child and make her/him  Festivities. Celebrate cultural festivities by asking the children to write
feel important and cherished. good wish cards or drawing the celebration rituals. You can arrange a
Remember to sing a song too!
birthday poster for the children.

YOUR ROLE is to adapt the activities to the different age groups.

Art Activity 1: Drawing activities using reference pictures

Materials: Cardboard book, puzzle blocks or a jigsaw puzzle, paper,

jumbo crayons for younger children, crayons and coloring pencils for
older children.
NOTE   Adapt the activities
Age: Toddlers and pre-school children.
according to the age group
Learning: Improve the imaginations of children and their ability to draw
and color.
What you can do:
• Sit in a group and display the board book, or the pictures of the
puzzle blocks or jigsaw puzzle in front of the children. Ask the
children what they see in the cardboard book or in the images of
the puzzle blocks or jigsaw puzzle.
NOTE   You can also copy the • Invite the children to describe the picture in details.
pictures of the board book on • Ask the children to tell a story about the pictures.
paper and invite the children to
color in. • Ask the children to draw about the story using the crayons and
paper.

Art Activity 2: Modeling with clay

Material: Modeling clay

Age: Babies, toddlers and pre-school children
Learning: Improve the creativity of children, the manipulation (touching)
of materials, and the ability to create figures and shapes.

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What you can do:

NOTE   Activities for babies
aim at stimulating the touching • Put a box of colorful modeling clay out for the children and let them
(manipulation) of materials. create shapes and figures and play freely. Encourage children to
Simply allow babies to feel the
clay with their hands. Make sure explore the new material.
that they do not put it in their • Encourage children to experiment by combining the clay with
mouths.
natural items, such as shells, leaves and small twigs. You can use

UNIT ONE
recycled materials like bottle taps, plastic bottles and containers to
reproduce shapes.
NOTE   Make sure that children do
not ingest the clay. • Stage a story. Invite the children to use the clay to reproduce the
characters of their favorite story, and use them to create dialogues
engaging the clay-made characters. The clay can also be used to
model cars, trees, and houses, to support the narration of the story.

• Playing activities

Here you can find some suggestions on how to use the toys listed in
Activity One of this Unit to implement activities according to age groups.
In addition, you can find some ideas on how to implement outdoor and
indoor recreational activities.

YOUR ROLE is to adapt the activities to the different age groups.

• Outdoor recreational activities

If your context allows it, try to arrange outdoor activities for the children,
with the help of parents and volunteers. For example, you can arrange
visits to parks or to areas where children can play safely and freely. Make
THINK: Is there any game you sure that when you organize outdoor activities you allow for sufficient time.
remember from childhood? Why
don’t you play it with the children? Please use the child/caregiver ratio as indicated in Unit Three of this module.

• Indoor recreational activities

Arrange playing groups. Usually same age (peer) groups work well in
recreational activities, because children of the same age generally have
similar developmental needs and physical strength. Mixed-age groups
NOTE   Make sure that children can also be very effective, especially when older children are involved in
with disabilities are included in the support of younger children. See Unit Three of this module. Some of
the activities. You might involve
older children for extra support. the following activities are adapted from the UNICEF ‘Early Childhood
Development Kit: a Treasure Box of Activities’.

Recreational Activity 1: The tunnel

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Improve ability to balance, sit, kneel, and crawl by using
different body parts.
What you can do:
• Have pairs of children holding hands to make a tunnel in different
parts of the playing area. Encourage children to crawl through the
tunnels.

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• Sing a catchy song while playing.

• You can also adapt this activity for outdoors if there are suitable
conditions.

Recreational Activity 2: Play to find objects and people

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of babies and toddlers to recognize objects
and analyze their environment.
What you can do:
• Pick an object or a person that you see in the room or outdoors.
• Sing a song about it, and ask the children to go and touch the object
or the person about whom you are singing.
• Encourage the children to sing along.

Recreational Activity 3: Move in a circle

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of babies and toddlers to coordinate their
movements and to respond to commands.
What you can do:
• Ask the children to hold hands with you in a closed circle.
• Sing a song while you and the children walk together in the circle
holding hands.
NOTE   Use local rhymes and
• In the song, use words that tell the children to sit down, stand up,
songs. Make sure that children
with disabilities are included too! jump forward, jump backward, turn on the spot, etc., according to
their abilities.

Recreational Activity 4: Games using the sponge balls

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to control their movements in
handling a ball, and strengthening their muscles. Children improve their
motor skills and learn about concentration and precision by chasing and
catching a ball while in movement.
What you can do:
• Roll a sponge ball to a child and let him/her observe how the ball
rolls on the floor. Encourage the child to touch and hold the ball and
feel its softness.
• Roll 1 or more sponge balls to a small group of children and allow
them to kick, throw, and catch the ball(s).
• Ask the children to sit in a circle with you and roll a ball to 1 child
NOTE   This is a good activity with and ask him/her to roll it back. Encourage all of the children to take
which to involve children with
disabilities. Sit with the child and part in the game.
support him/her or ask an older • Ask the older children—either in pairs or in a group—to pass the ball
child to help you.
among themselves. The player who does not drop the ball wins.

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• P lay activities for babies and toddlers (0 to 3 year olds) using the
ECD Kit toys
In the following section, you can find some examples of how to use the
toys of the ECD Kit to implement learning activities suitable for young
children. It is a good practice to divide the children into small playing
groups and rotate the use of the toys.

UNIT ONE
Toy Activity 1: Play with the board puzzle without pegs

Age: 0 to 3 years
Learning: Improve the ability of babies to use their eyes to reach and
grab objects of different shapes, textures, and sizes.
What you can do:
NOTE   Make sure that the baby
does not put the pieces in his/her • Encourage the baby to take the puzzle pieces out and hold them.
mouth. Allow the baby to play with the different pieces and feel them with
his/her fingers.
• Allow the baby to match the picture of the puzzle piece.
• Talk to children and refer to the colors, pictures and shapes of the
puzzle.
• Hide one of the puzzle pieces under a cloth. Talk about what you
are doing. Ask the baby to find it.
• Make up a story about the different pictures of the puzzle.

Toy Activity 2: Play with the chain puzzle

Age: 1 to 2 years
Learning: Improve the ability of babies to use their eyes to reach and
grab objects of different shapes, textures, and sizes. Improve the ability
of toddlers to take things apart and put them together and start to count
and point at colors.
What you can do:
NOTE   Make sure that the baby • Encourage the baby to take the puzzle pieces out and hold them.
does NOT put the pieces in his/ Allow the baby to play with the different pieces and feel them with
her mouth.
his/her fingers.
• Take the puzzle apart and put all the pieces in an empty container.
Let the baby empty the container and ask him/her to put all the
pieces back in the container again.
• Encourage the toddler to count the pieces of the puzzle while s/he
is playing with them.
• Ask the child to reach pieces of different colors.
• Talk and make up stories with colors, numbers and shapes.

Toy Activity 3: Play with the shape-sorter

Age: 0 to 3 years
Learning: Improve the hand-eye coordination ability of babies, and their

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control in handling objects. Toddlers learn different colors and shapes,

and they reinforce their understanding of spatial orientation.
What you can do:
• Display the shape-sorter with the different colored shapes in front
of the babies and let them play freely with the various pieces.
Encourage the babies to feel the different shapes with their fingers.
Talk about the shapes and their colors.
NOTE   Never leave babies alone. • Let the baby discover how to open the shape-sorter. Empty the
Supervise them at all times, and container of the shape-sorter and ask the baby to refill it.
make sure they do not put the
pieces of the shape-sorter into • Allow toddlers to play with the shape-sorter, and let them explore
their mouths. how each piece fits in its own hole.
• Name the shape of the piece the child handles, and encourage him/
her to find the corresponding hole in the shape container.

Toy Activity 4: Play with the stringed beads

Age: Babies and toddlers

Learning: Improve the hand-eye coordination ability of babies by having
them try to touch and catch or pull the objects dangling above them.
Toddlers learn different colors and shapes and learn to handle small
objects.
What you can do:
• Put beads of different sizes and colors on the ends of several
NOTE   You can make mobile
objects using the beads and strings. Tie the strings tightly to keep the beads from coming off.
different colored shapes to hang Lay 1 of the strings out in front of where the baby is sitting. Show
above the place where the baby
sleeps. It will stimulate babies him/her how to pull it so that the toy moves towards him/her. Give
when they are awake. the baby the string to pull and engage the baby in playing with you.
• Help and encourage toddlers to put beads on the string by colors
and shape. Count the beads with them, and make necklace and
NOTE   Make sure that toddlers
bracelets that they can wear.
are supervised at all times. Small
objects like the beads are very
easy to swallow.

FIGURE 1: How to Use Stringed Beads in the Stimulation of Infants

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Toy Activity 5: Play with the stack and sort kit

Age: 0 to 3 years
Learning: Improve the ability of babies to put objects one on top of the
other. Toddlers learn different sizes and can compare smaller and bigger
pieces.

UNIT ONE
What you can do:
• Put 1 object down in front of the baby and stack another on top
as s/he watches. Give the baby 1 to stack. Talk about what s/he is
doing and give him/her time to explore these materials freely.
• Place the stacking kit in the middle of a small group of toddlers
and let them play freely with the materials. Observe how toddlers
explore a new object, and let them put the objects on top of each
other on their own.
• Talk about how the objects look. Talk about each object’s color, size,
and shape, and how some are small and others are big. Show the
children how to stack the objects and observe if they imitate you.
• Ask the children to find all of the the items of the same color.

Toy Activity 6: Play with the building blocks

Age: Toddlers
Learning: Reinforce the hand-eye coordination ability of toddlers and
their control in handling objects of different shapes.
What you can do:
• Sit the toddlers in a circle and put the construction blocks in the
middle where children can play with them freely.
• Talk to a child about the color and shape of the blocks s/he is using.
Ask the child to pick up another block with the same color or shape.

Toy Activity 7: Play with the puzzle block

Age: Toddlers
Learning: Reinforce the ability of toddlers to think and reason.
What you can do:
• Show a group of toddlers the different complete pictures of the
puzzle. Explain to the toddlers the different objects that make up
each picture. Show the toddlers that the different puzzle blocks
have pictures on them by rotating the cubes.
• Allow the children to play freely and explore the different cubes of
the puzzle.
• Arrange the different cubes to complete a picture, and encourage
the toddlers to imitate you.

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• P
 lay activities for pre-school (4 to 7/8 years) children using the
ECD Kit toys

Toy Activity 1: Play with the shape-sorter

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability to recognize and name shapes and match
them to the respective holes.
What you can do:
• Let the children play and enjoy the shape-sorter on their own.
• Put all of the pieces on the floor. Call the name of the shapes and
ask children to show you where the rectangles are, where the
triangles are, and so on.
• If the children cannot find the right shape, pick up the piece and
show them. Ask the children again to find it.
• Encourage the children to identify shapes and repeat their names.

Toy Activity 2: Play with the stringed beads

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability to coordinate movements, learn colors and
count.
What you can do:
• Let the children string together the many kinds of objects in their
own way. Ask the children about the things they have chosen to
string together. Point out colors and encourage them to count.
• You can add other materials to the string, like pieces of colorful
paper, textured materials, and flowers.

Toy Activity 3: Play with the stack and sort kit

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to count and sort objects by
size, shape and color. Pre-school numeracy activities.
What you can do:
• Encourage children to sort the items in their own creative ways.
Let them play freely with the different items.
• Using the stacking/sorting items, ask the children to order the
objects according to color, then size and shape. Let the children try
on their own and ask them to:
i. Find all the same sized items.
ii. Find all the same shaped items.
iii. Make a line of items from the smallest to the biggest.
NOTE   Repeat the activity several iv. Make a pile of the same colored items.
times and make sure all of the
children are involved. • Ask the children:
i. How many items are in the different groups?

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ii. What is the biggest group?

iii. What is the smallest group?
• Ask the children to count the items in each group.
NOTE   With older children you
• Ask the children to line 10 items up in front of you. Repeat the word
can adapt this activity with more ‘ten’, and show that the number corresponds to the items lined up.
difficult operations like adding Compare the number 10 to the number of fingers or toes. Repeat
and subtracting objects.

UNIT ONE
this activity with different numbers from 1 to 10.

Toy Activity 4: Play with the dominoes kit

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to count and recognize numbers;
pre-school numeracy.
What you can do:
• Let the children look at the different domino pieces. Point out
the dots on both ends. Tell the children that the dots represent a
number. Ask the children to count the dots and identify the number.
• Sit in a circle with a small group of children. Give each player 5
domino pieces and put the rest in a pile in the middle of the circle.
• The first player puts down 1 of his 5 dominoes pieces.
• The next player must attach a domino to the 1 in the middle that
matches the number of dots. If the player can’t make a match, s/he
takes a new domino piece from the pile in the middle.
NOTE   The players can match the
numbers from both ends of the
• Repeat the process with the next player. S/he must attach a domino
domino pieces. piece to the 1 in the middle matching the number of the dots. If the
player can’t make a match, s/he takes a new piece from the pile in
the middle.
• Continue playing until 1 player is out of dominoes.

Toy Activity 5: Play with the construction blocks

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to cooperate with peers, and
improve their hand-eye coordination and fine-motor skills.
What you can do:
• Put a set of colorful blocks where children can play with them
freely. Ask the children to assemble blocks together as a house,
bridge or any other construction.
• To promote cooperation, give each child a block to build a structure
together. Let each child place his/her block one at a time until a
structure is built.

Toy Activity 6: Play with the puzzle blocks

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability to memorize figures and develop problem-

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solving and cooperation skills; improve their hand-eye coordination and

fine-motor skills.
What you can do:
• Let the children explore the puzzle blocks and figure out how they
work on their own.
• Ask the children to complete the puzzle and memorize each piece
of the puzzle.
• Form a group of children and challenge them to complete the
puzzle as fast as they can. All participants are invited to contribute
to completing the puzzle.

Toy Activity 7: Play with the memory game

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Develop the ability of children to recognize similarities and
differences and categories, and to use logic. Improve taking turns and
memory skills.
What you can do:
• Allow the children to explore the pictures on the cards. Tell the
children what each picture represents and point out that there are
more cards with the same picture on it.
• Place all cards face down in front of a group of children sitting in a
circle. Each player then picks 2 cards and turns them over so that
the other players can see clearly the picture on the card and where
the card is located.
• If both cards have the same picture, the player will keep them and
have a 2nd try to turn 2 more cards. If the player is not successful,
NOTE   The game may sound
the next player takes a turn.
difficult at the beginning.
Encourage and guide children • As the game is played, everyone sees the images on each card
in their first attempts—you will and their location, and players can begin to memorize the locations
see that they learn very fast.
Have a go at the game with your of the matching cards. Children can then choose matching pairs of
colleagues—it will make it easier cards from memory and keep the pairs that they match.
to understand how it is played.
• The player with the most matching cards wins.

Toy Activity 8: Play with the counting puzzle and paper and crayons

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to count up to 20 objects, name
written numbers from 1 to 10, and start to explore simple operations
like subtractions and additions of numbers using concrete objects; pre-
school numeracy.
What you can do:
• Let the children play with the counting puzzle freely and explore
each piece and the numbers and dots represented on it.
• Ask the children to put the puzzle together. Talk about the number
of pieces in the puzzle.
• Help the children to learn numbers by pointing to and counting the

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number of dots for each piece.

• G
 ive 1 piece of the puzzle to each child. Ask them to find the
matching pieces for the number 1 dot piece, the number 2 dot
piece, and so on.
• Ask the children to complete the circle puzzle, adding each pair
number in order. Give the children lots of practice counting objects

UNIT ONE
and people around them.
• Write out the numbers 1–10 on cards using the paper and the
crayons—one number written on each card.
• Give each child a card and ask them to find the puzzle piece with
the same number of dots.
• Use cards, puzzle pieces, and other children to help children learn
simple addition and subtraction. For example: Sit in a circle; ask
5 children to stand up; ask 1 child to sit down; ask the children to
NOTE   The game may sound
count: How many children are still standing?
difficult at the beginning.
Encourage and guide children • Ask a child to find the puzzle piece with 3 dots. Ask another child
in their first attempts—you will to find the piece with 2 dots. Count the total number of dots. How
see that they learn very fast.
Have a go at the game with your many do you have now? (5) Can you find the puzzle piece with the
colleagues—it will make it easier number 5? Repeat this many times.
to understand how the game is
played. • Make up songs and rhymes using the numbers 1–10.

Toy Activity 9: Play with the jigsaw puzzle

Age: Pre-school children

Learning: Improve the ability of children to work with their peers and
develop their literacy skills by connecting words and pictures.
What you can do:
• Let a small group of children take the puzzle apart and put the
pieces back together freely. Help the children if it is too difficult.
• Use words to help the children see the next step—move a piece
just a little until the child sees the answer.

• EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES

NOTE   Make sure that children Dramatization: Engage children in representing characters of stories.
are supervised at all times. Invite them to reproduce natural sounds, like the wind, the sea, and
Engage community volunteers
to help you in the supervision of the trees. This will stimulate their imaginations, and it will also actively
children. engage them in exploring their environment.
Materials: Hand and finger puppets

Drama Activity 1: Play with hand and finger puppets

NOTE   Make sure that you
use puppets that are culturally Age: Toddlers and pre-school children
sensitive. In some cultures there
are animals that are sacred or Learning: Improve the ability of children to interact among peers and
culturally banned and, therefore, adults; stimulate children’s imaginations and help them to identify with
not suitable to play with.
the puppets and recount events that they have experienced.

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What you can do:

• Tell a story using the puppets. Put a puppet on your hand, and give
each child a puppet to hold. Tell each child who the puppet will be
in the story.
• Have the children listen carefully so that they will know when to
make their puppets talk.
• Begin telling the story. When the time comes for a child’s puppet to
say something, encourage the child to make the puppet talk. Give
help if needed. Children will find it easier after trying several times.
• Choose another story and invite other children to hold the puppets
and play it again.

Drama Activity 2: Play to imitate

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Reinforce the ability of children to imitate gestures and learn
how to move their bodies.
What you can do:
• Stand in front of a group of children and sing a song about the
NOTE   Support young babies in
different parts of the body while you move them.
their attempts, and make sure
that children with disabilities are • Encourage the children to imitate you or an older child while singing
fully participating. along.

Drama Activity 3: Dramatization of a story/fairy tale/traditional

song or made-up story

Age: Babies and toddlers; pre-school children

Learning: Reinforce the ability of children to play roles and personify
characters.
What you can do:
• Consult with the children to choose a story/fairy tale/traditional
saga or made-up story they want to dramatize.
• Discuss with the children the list of characters that will take part
in the dramatization. Make sure that all of the children are involved
in the dramatization. You can create roles for large numbers and
that can also involve children with disabilities. For example, in the
representation of a forest children can become trees, vegetation,
flowers, grass, etc.
• With younger children you can have an external voice that narrates
the main parts of the story, while the children are involved in their
roles. With young children keep dialogues to a minimum, because
it is difficult for them to memorize long sentences.
• Use dance and music in the development of the scenes.
• You can invite parents and community members to the
presentation; you can use the performance to mark an important
day or to fundraise (collect resources).

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Storytelling: You can invite an elderly person or 1 of the parents to tell

NOTE   Make sure that the stories
are suitable for the age group. stories about the community.
Agree upon the theme of the
story with the guest speaker
beforehand. Follow up the storytelling sessions with art and craft or drama sessions,
where the children can draw some of the characters or can dramatize
some of the most important events of the stories. This will help the

UNIT ONE
children to re-elaborate in their own words and images, what they have
learned from the story.

Storytelling Activity 1: Storytelling

NOTE   Use facial expressions
and vocal inflections while you Age: 2 to 8 years
talk—this will help to draw the
children in. Learning: Improve the ability of children to use their imaginations and
to interact with other members of the community and learn about their
environment and their culture
NOTE   Involving elderly people What you can do:
helps children to interact with
different generations and learn • Sit among the children and ask them to listen carefully to the story
about the culture and history of you are about to tell them. You can pick a familiar or traditional
the community. It also enables
elderly people to feel included. story, or make one up.
• Invite an elderly person from the community to tell stories linked
with the culture and the history of the community.
NOTE   Always supervise children,
and agree beforehand with the
guest speaker about the stories
that are suitable. • READING ACTIVITIES

Reading activities are ideal when you want to relax and calm children
down. Reading together with children is also a fun way to stimulate
learning processes and to strengthen the adult-child relationship.

Books: The ECD Kit contains a cardboard book that you can use to read
stories to children. Another possibility is to create your own reading
books using the art and craft materials of the ECD Kit; that way you can
tailor the activity to the age-group and context.

Reading Activity 1: Play with the cardboard book and create stories

Age: 0 to 8 year olds

Learning: Improve the ability of children to become emotionally,
physically, and mentally relaxed. Children learn to engage with adults
and build trustful and meaningful relationships while developing their
curiosity.
What you can do:
• Encourage children to turn pages while you talk about the pictures
in the book. Talk to babies as much as you can. From 3 months on,
babies develop a better range of vision.
• Repeat slowly the words of the pictures and allow the children
to look at the movement of your lips and the words that you use.

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Encourage the children to repeat words and sounds.

• P
 oint to a picture and say the associated word together with the
toddler. Ask simple questions about pictures to support their
understanding of words.
• Make up stories using the different pictures of the board book.
Talk about the colors, count the objects pictured in the book, and
encourage the children to help you.

Reading Activity 2: Create your own reading books

NOTE   You can have different 1. Chose a short popular story, or make one up with the children
groups of children working on
different stories. You will have 2. Select 5 or 6 images that represent the important events of the story
many reading books and a lot of 3. Engage the children to draw the pictures
fun in a very short time—and the
children will feel very proud of 4. Write some short sentences under each picture
them! 5. Glue or tape the pages together.

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 © UNICEF/HTIA2011-00364/Marco Dormino
UNIT TWO:

PSYCHOSOCIAL
ACTIVITIES

LEARNING Psychosocial well-being is about the child’s feelings, thoughts and

OUTCOMES perceptions, as well as his/her positive relationships and connections with
individuals in his/her family or community. These connections provide
At the end of Unit Two you and
support and help the child to feel safe, healthy, protected, respected,
the children will be able to:
heard, and happy. In emergencies, conflict situations and crises,
1. Use art and play to establish
psychosocial support helps children adjust to changes in their lives. It
safety, build community and
interact with each other can help rebuild their confidence, sense of belonging, self-esteem and
2. Feel safe to play and express hopefulness about the future. The 2 goals of psychosocial support are:
any thoughts, feelings, and safety, building community, and supporting expression.
memories
3. Understand how to positively
support early childhood
development

YOUR ROLE is to focus on being especially patient and understanding

with the children. Each child reacts differently in an emergency and their
reactions are out of their control. Their silence or anger is a way of trying
to cope with their trauma and distress. It helps to remind children that
NOTE   Some children may require
what they are experiencing after a traumatic event is a normal reaction
more specialized support than
can be provided in a psychosocial to an abnormal situation.
activities group. If you, another
caregiver, or a parent/guardian
notice that a child is severely The objective of Unit Two is to provide guidance on how to conduct
withdrawn and separate from their simple and practical psychosocial support activities for children through
peers, has rapid mood changes,
or behaves very aggressively, the use of art and play.
this child might be depressed or
severely distressed and should be
referred for specialized counseling
and care.

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YOUR ROLE is to conduct psychosocial activities that are relevant to

your emergency context and your culture with the group of children in
your care. Allow them the safety, acceptance and non-judgment to play
freely.
THINK: Do you remember what
it was like for you to play as a
child? What did you enjoy doing?
What helped you feel stronger
and happier? When working with
young children it is beneficial for
you, the teacher or caregiver,
to also participate in the group
activities. You are encouraged to
be playful in your interactions with
the children. Find the child inside
of you and let it out! .

THINK: There are differences

if an emergency or conflict is
still actively taking place around
you and the children and/or you
are living in a post-emergency
scenario. The implementation of
the described activities below will
depend upon your setting and
culture. Think of how to best adapt
the activities to your setting and
culture, while keeping in mind
© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0589/Olivier Asselin
the main psychosocial objectives
of establishing safety, building
community interaction, and
encouraging expression.

Checklist 1: Involving parents and guardians

• Get to know the parents/guardians of the students.

• W
 hen speaking to parents/guardians focus on the strengths and positive
qualities of the child.

• E
 ncourage parents/guardians to continue supporting their child’s play
and expression at home. Explain that it is normal for the child to display
changes in behavior after a stressful event. Children might experience
difficulties sleeping, have bad dreams, become more attached to the
parent, or reject them and display anger.

• E
 ncourage parents/guardians to be supportive by showing understanding
and patience, listen to their child’s concerns and confusion, allow them
to cry and feel sad, and take time to explain to their child why there are
changes in their lives and what to expect next.

• Y
 ou can also invite the parents/guardians to a meeting or workshop where
you teach them relaxation exercises and discuss as a group how to help
their children at home. The parents/guardians will also have experienced
the emergency and will benefit from parent/guardian psychosocial
THINK: What are other ways you activities too. Consider activities like inviting them to trace and decorate a
can include parents/guardians in hand and make a Circle of Parents/Guardians Hands.
psychosocial support? How can
you and your colleagues also • S
 peak to parents/guardians about the importance of routines and
provide psychosocial support for
customs at home.
each other?

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ACTIVITY ONE:
Art and craft (a&c) psychosocial activities

ART AND CRAFT (A&C) PSYCHOSOCIAL ACTIVITIES

# Activity Age-groups

1. Our Circle of Hands 2-8 years

2. Free Drawing 2-8 years

3. Drawing with Themes and Directions 4-8 years

NOTE   Use the materials listed in 4. Group Drawings 2-8 years

Activity One of Unit One of this
module in the implementation of 5. Transitional Objects 2-8 years
the following activities
6. Classroom Container of Worries 4-8 years

YOUR ROLE is to adapt the activities to the age group and to make

UNIT TWO
sure that they are culturally sensitive.

A&C Psychosocial Activity One: Our Circle of Hands

Ages: 2 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: During crisis it is important for children to
feel safe—and to feel that they belong to a community. Their learning
environment might provide the safest and strongest community or space
for them during the emergency. It is recommended that this activity be
done during the first day or week after or during an emergency situation.
It builds community, belonging, safety, and connection among children
NOTE   Younger children will find and caregivers/teachers. It also can be used as an ongoing ritual for
it difficult to hold the colored
pencils. Give the 2-4 year old bringing new children into the class.
children larger jumbo crayons, and Materials: White drawing paper, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue,
the 4-6 year old children regular
crayons and colored pencils. tape.
Preparation: Before the children arrive to class trace the outline of your
hand on a piece of white drawing paper. Use scissors to cut the drawing
of the hand out of the paper so you have a life-sized paper hand. Cut
enough hand outlines for every child, caregiver and teacher in the class.
For example, if there are 30 children and caregivers, have 30 hands pre-
cut for the class.

FIGURE 2: PRE-CUT HANDS

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STEP 1: Invite the children to sit in a circle on the floor. Sit on the floor
NOTE   If this activity is conducted
outside, use plastic sheeting or with them.
tarpaulin (plastic, if available) to STEP 2: Welcome the children to the class. With excitement and
sit on during activities, because it
helps to define the group’s safe positivity, explain that you are interested in getting to know the children
area. as individuals and as a group.
STEP 3: Acknowledge that you know they have been through a difficult,
frightening and confusing event(s) and that there are changes in their
lives at home and in their community.
STEP 4: Explain that this is a safe space where they can feel free to play,
have fun, ask questions, make friends and be supported by adults and
peers.
STEP 5: Explain that to begin to get to know each other we are going to
make something together.
STEP 6: Distribute the art materials and give each child and caregiver
(including you) a paper hand.
NOTE   Always encourage the
children to share and use as STEP 7: Invite the children to decorate their hands any way they want.
many colors as they want while They can write their names, draw symbols, lines, fill the hands with color,
drawing.
trace their own hands inside, etc.
STEP 8: Give the group approximately 30 minutes to finish their hands.
STEP 9: Once finished, begin the next step by sitting back in a circle.
Say your name out loud while placing your decorated hand on the floor
in front of you towards the center of the circle. Ask the child next to you
NOTE   Make sure that the
to introduce his/her name by saying out loud, “My name is ____”, while
hand cut outs overlap and are
connected. placing his/her paper hand next to yours.
Go around the circle with every child and caregiver saying their names
while connecting their paper hands to the circle of hands that is forming.
STEP 10: Once everyone has introduced their names, there should be
a circle of connected paper hands. Ask the children: How does it feel to
see all of our hands connected?
NOTE   It is important that you STEP 11: Briefly talk to the children about how we all use our hands to
take care of the circle of hands, greet each other and help each other. Ask them to share other things for
because it is now a symbol of
connection, safety, community, which we use our hands.
empathy, and trust for the STEP 12: Use the glue to permanently connect the hands together. The
children.
circle can be used to decorate the learning environment.

NOTE   If a new child later joins

Message to convey to the children: Like the circle of hands, we are
the class, provide him/her with a all connected. We can use our hands to show care and kindness, and to
new hand outline to decorate with give and receive help from others.
his/her name, symbol, or design.
To introduce the new child, ask
all the children to sit in a circle
around the circle of hands they
created the first week and take A&C Psychosocial Activity Two: Free Drawing
turns introducing their names to
the new child. Next, invite the
new child to introduce his/her Ages: 2 to 8 years
name while connecting his/her Psychosocial Objective: Children benefit from a regular space and
decorated hand to the circle of
hands. Make sure to glue his/her time where they can freely and spontaneously express their thoughts,
hand to the Circle of Hands. emotions, ideas, stories or memories. During free drawing children will
naturally communicate and express their worries, experiences, fears,
dreams, and interests. Use free drawing with children for 1 to 2 hours
every week.

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Materials: A3 or A4 white or colored drawing paper, colored crayons,

colored pencils.
Preparation: Review Checklist 2 below, ‘How to positively interact and
talk to children about their artwork’. Be prepared to respond with support
and understanding to difficult images, recognize the strengths in the
children’s stories, and facilitate short discussions around the artwork.

NOTE   See relaxation activities

STEP 1: Use a short relaxation or physical exercise to calm and focus the
below.
children.
STEP 2: Distribute paper and drawing materials to each child. The children
can sit in a circle on the floor, sit at desks, or find their own space in the
room or learning environment to sit and draw.
STEP 3: Explain to the children that they can draw anything they want.
Encourage them to spend 20-40 minutes drawing anything that comes to
their minds. Explain that there is no right or wrong thing or way to draw,
and that this is a time for them to enjoy drawing freely.
STEP 4: When the children are finished, place the drawings in a circle on

UNIT TWO
the floor, or hang them on the wall and ask the children to walk around
NOTE   Use ideas from the
and look at their classmates’ drawings.
checklist to encourage children to
talk about their artwork. STEP 5: Begin by asking the children if anyone would like to share a story
about their drawing.
If children draw images from the emergency or conflict situation, use it
NOTE   Sometimes children do
as an opportunity to explore any fears, confusion or questions the class
not want to share or talk about
their artwork. This is fine. The act might have about the distressing events. Always end discussions by
of drawing helps them even if refocusing on positive strengths (e.g., that they are safe now, that they
they do not talk about it. Make
sure you or the child writes the have overcome difficulties, that they are making new friends).
child’s name on the back of every
drawing. This helps the children
to recognize their ownership of
the artwork and builds their self- A&C Psychosocial Activity Three: Drawing With Themes and Directions
esteem. Allow the children to
choose whether they would like
to take their drawing home or to Ages: 4 to 8 years
display it in the classroom.
Psychosocial Objective: Using themes and directions for drawings is a
way of encouraging the children to recognize their individual community
strengths, stories of survival, and positive interactions. These activities
are intended for 4 to 6 year olds, but they can also be carefully explained
to 2 to 3 year olds, who will benefit from drawing even if they do not
understand the directions.
Materials: A3 or A4 white drawing paper, crayons, colored pencils, pencils.
Preparation: Review Checklist 2 ‘How to positively interact and talk
to children about their artwork’ below. Choose a theme for the children
to draw that will encourage them to recognize their individual and
community strengths, stories of survival, and positive interactions.
Distribute art materials to each child and then introduce the theme for
the drawing activity. Spend a few minutes first exploring the theme and
asking questions that encourage their imaginations and ideas. Give the
children 30-40 minutes for their drawings. Bring the drawings together
in a circle or display on the wall and facilitate a class reflection and story
sharing time about the drawings.

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Examples of Themes for the children to draw:

NOTE   Younger children are in
the process of learning about • Myself as really strong. Include what helps me to stay strong.
their emotions and how to Example: food, family, friends.
recognize the difference between
sadness, anger, happiness, fear, • My favorite thing about myself. Example: I am really good at dancing/
joy and other feelings both within playing football/singing.
themselves and in others. As a
child shares a story about his/
• My favorite thing about someone I like/love.
her drawing or speaks to you, be • My favorite game/animal/friend/food.
aware of the expression on his/her
face and body language, and then
• Someone or something that helped me stay safe or overcome
help him/her find the words to something difficult.
describe the feeling experienced. • How I can help someone, or did help someone. Example: Holding my
Use words to label the emotion
for the child. With children of ages friend’s hand when she was sad.
4 to 8 years, you can have group • Draw a line in the middle of the paper. On 1 side draw a picture of
conversations about emotions and
encourage the children to give a sad memory or experience. On the other side draw a picture of a
their peers advice. For example: happy memory of experience.
“When do you feel sad? What
does it feel like? What helps you • My favorite place. What does my favorite place look like? How do I
to feel happy?” feel when I am there?

A&C Psychosocial Activity Four: Group Drawings

Ages: 2 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: This activity provides the opportunity for
children to work together in smaller groups, build community, and provide
a larger space for expression.
NOTE   Do not feel limited by the
Materials: Roll of white paper, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, glue,
materials provided in the box. and tape.
LOOK AROUND YOU! Encourage the children to use what they find in their surrounding
environment (leaves, stones, trash, wood, bottle caps, sand, pieces of
cloth, clay, sticks, bottle caps, unused plastic bottles, bags, etc.). They
can build sculptures, create artwork, or make up new games with these
objects.
Preparation: Plan to divide the class into groups with 4 to 5 children per
group. Cut large sheets of paper from the roll of white paper. The paper
should be large enough for 4 to 5 children to sit around and draw on at
the same time.

STEP 1: Give each group 1 large sheet of paper.

STEP 2: Ask the children to think of a theme for their group drawing and
talk about it together. Each group can do a different theme, or the class
can choose 1 theme. Allow them to decide. Encourage the children to
then work together and draw their group idea on the large paper.
STEP 3: You can also do group drawings around the theme of drawing a
map of the community, and offer the children the option of gluing objects
like stones, bottle caps and other materials onto their community map to
represent different locations. Give the children 1 to 2 hours to work on
the group drawing. It is also an activity that they can continue to work on
over time.

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A&C Psychosocial Activity Five: Transitional Objects

Ages: 2 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: As the children begin to feel safe and connected,
it is helpful for them to have an object to take home that reminds them of
the strength and community they feel in their learning environment. This
forms a positive bridge between the school and the home environments.
The transitional object should be something meaningful that represents
their empowering community at school.
Materials: White drawing paper, crayons, colored pencils, and other
materials the children choose to use depending on the specific activity.
Directions: There are multiple ways that children can create transitional
objects.
• Hands for Home: Invite the children to decorate the outline of
a 2nd hand for them to take home. Use the steps from the first
activity (Our Circle of Hands), but do not glue the hands together.
Let each child take his/her paper hand home. Explain to the children

UNIT TWO
that they now have a piece of their class circle with them even
when outside the learning environment
• Sharing Art: Ask each child to draw something that makes him/her
feel happy or strong. Once finished, invite the children to exchange
their drawings with the person sitting next to them. They now have
a reminder at home of something special from one of their peers
at school. This also provides children with the opportunity to help
and uplift each other, which is empowering
• Puzzle Pieces: Create a paper puzzle for the children using 1 sheet
of white A4 paper and 1 colored piece of A4 paper from the kit. To
prepare the activity, place the white piece on top of the colored
piece and glue the 2 pieces together. On the colored side, divide
the paper into different shapes by drawing lines randomly across
the paper in different directions. Make sure that the number of
shapes matches the number of children in the group and that they
are similar in size. Cut out the individual pieces of the paper puzzle.
While sitting in a circle, give each child a piece of the puzzle and
invite him/her to freely decorate his/her piece using crayons or
pencils. Make sure to tell the children to decorate and draw on
the white side of the puzzle piece. Once finished, ask the children
to work as a group to put their puzzle together. It will only work if
they all keep the white side of the puzzle facing up. After they have
put together the puzzle, explain that they can each take their piece
home. Now they each have a piece of a whole.

A&C Psychosocial Activity Six: Classroom Container of Worries

Ages: 4 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: Children in emergencies have worries that may
have solutions, as well as bigger worries that are not easily resolved. This
activity helps children identify things that are troubling them, while also

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encouraging and providing them a way to remember what to do to feel

better. It also builds community and trust.

YOUR ROLE as caregiver is to provide a safe container for their worries.

It helps the children to know that their worries and fears are being heard
and acknowledged, and that an adult they trust is holding the worries for
them.
NOTE   Ideally, use a container
that can be closed and kept
permanently in the learning Materials: A4 colored or white paper, scissors, pens, pencils, a container
environment to be returned to on like a small box or bag.
a weekly basis.
Preparation: Cut the colored paper into smaller pieces.

NOTE   Keep the pieces just STEP 1: Begin a discussion with the children about sharing things that
large enough for the children to they are worried about. You can start the conversation by giving an
have space to draw or write with
pencils and pens. example of a less severe worry, like being late for school. Ask the group
to think of solutions for the simple problem.
STEP 2: Ask the children to draw the problem on 1 side of the paper, and
NOTE   Do not force students to the solution on the other side.
tell their worries to the rest of
STEP 3: Before each child puts their worry inside the container, discuss
the class. If they prefer, they can
simply draw their worries and their worry and solution as a group.
solutions and put them in the Explain: Some worries are bigger than others and not easily solved, but the
container.
container can take the worry away from you and do the worrying for you.
STEP 4: Take the container you have, and as you put the paper with
the worry inside the container, explain to the group that the worry and
solution is now going to be kept safe inside the Class Worry Container.
Have the class choose where in the learning environment to keep the
NOTE   Serious issues may come Worry Container for safekeeping.
up as children express their
worries that might need adult
intervention (e.g., protection or Message to convey to the children: It is normal to have difficult thoughts,
health issues). Also, while children feelings and emotions, and it is important to be able to express them and
are expressing their worries it
may appear that some children
think of solutions to feel better. Their worries and solutions are being
may need further psychosocial heard and are being kept safe by an adult. Let them know that every
counseling and care. It is
week they can add a worry/solution to the class container—or whenever
important to report these issues
and ensure that they are dealt needed, as some might have urgent worries that arise. The children can
with. Be tactful. also choose to take past worries out of the container.

Checklist 2: Tips on how to positively interact and talk to children about

their drawings

• D
 iscuss and establish ground rules about how to feel safe and respected.
Include the children’s ideas. This list can be displayed in the class. The
list does not necessarily have to be written. Alternatively, it could be
drawn or a collection of items can be used as symbols/reminders of these
agreements. Possible agreements: Be nice to each other; Ask permission
before drawing on someone’s paper; Respect each other’s artwork and
ideas; Listen when someone else is speaking; Help clean-up our work
space after the activity is finished.

• E
 xplain to the children that there is no right or wrong way to draw
during art activities. (For example: It is acceptable for a child to draw a
green sky, a blue tree, or a person with purple skin).

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• B
 e aware of the developmental stages of child drawings: Children
aged 1-3 years will draw scribbles, marks and random lines that may not
look like anything identifiable. Nevertheless, ask the child if there is a story
about his/her drawing. Children ages 4-6 will draw more defined figures
and objects. Just because you can’t see what the picture is about does
not mean that it has no meaning. Do not assume you understand the
drawing without the child’s explanation.

• D
 o not correct a child’s drawing. Accept and validate in your speech
and actions his/her drawings and expression.

• D
 o not assume that a child is done with his/her artwork. Ask if he/she
is finished. If needed, you can offer extra time or the opportunity to finish
another day.

• Listen without judgment.

• D
 o not pressure children to share or talk about their artwork. Trust
that the child will share when ready. Be patient if the child is resistant. The
more comfortable and safe the child feels, the greater the likelihood that
he/she will express feelings.

UNIT TWO
• F
 irst ask closed questions about the artwork. This gives the children the
opportunity to control when to share. For example: start by asking: “Is
there a story about your drawing that you want to share?” If they say
“Yes”, then you can begin asking more open questions about the details of
the drawing and story.

• G
 ive children the opportunity to focus on survival, courage, endurance,
compassion, hope, joy, wishes, dreams and strengths in relation to
their drawing. (For example: If a child draws a scene or tells a story of
a girl next to a house that is being blown apart by wind and rain, first
always acknowledge the experience and the difficult emotions, like fear
or sadness. Then ask the child questions that help him/her to create a
positive story about how the people living in the house can survive and
be strong again: “I wonder if there is someone who can help to get the
house rebuilt?” Or “I wonder what this girl is feeling as she sees the
house? I wonder if there is something the girl wants to say or do?”)

• Acknowledge expression of both negative and positive emotions.

• It can be intimidating and overwhelming for children to share their stories
with a large group. If more than 1 teacher is available, the children can
be organized into smaller groups when discussing their drawings and
stories.

• R
 espect and take care of the artwork. Keep it as clean and as protected
as possible.

• E
 ncourage children to feel proud of their artwork and write their names
on the back of their drawings. Show the children where and how you are
keeping their artwork safe.

• D
 isplay the artwork in class by taping it on the walls or learning
environment, BUT first ask the children for permission to display their
artwork.

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ACTIVITY TWO:
Play, relax and assurance (pra) psychosocial activities

ART AND CRAFT (A&C) PSYCHOSOCIAL ACTIVITIES

# Activity Age-groups

1 Web of Connections 3-8 years

2 From My Heart to Your Heart 4-8 years

NOTE   Use the materials listed in 3 Exercises to Relax, Calm and Comfort 3-8 years
Activity One of Unit One of this
Module in the implementation of 4 Storytelling with Puppets 2-3 and 4-8 years
the following activities.
5 Rituals and Routines 2-8 years

YOUR ROLE is to adapt the activities to the age group and to make sure
that they are culturally sensitive.

PRA – Psychosocial Activity One: Web of Connections

Ages: 3 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: Distressing experiences can cause children
to feel uncomfortable or trapped in their bodies. They may also find it
difficult to interact with people and their environment. This activity frees
and loosens the energy in the learning environment, and helps promote
the connection between children and caregivers. It also provides an
opportunity to learn and remember names.
Materials: A ball or a soft puppet from the kit, and space to sit as a group

STEP 1: Sit together in a circle. Include yourself and any other caregivers
present.
STEP 2: Toss or roll a ball or puppet to any child in the circle while saying
his/her name out loud.
STEP 3: That child will then toss or roll or toss the ball to another child
while saying the other child’s name out loud. Repeat this until every child
has caught the ball—with each child only receiving the ball once—until
the ball has been returned to you.
STEP 4: Do the exercise again—in the same order. Ask the children to
try to repeat the pattern; to try to move the ball from child to child in the
same order, while saying the names out loud.
STEP 5: Repeat the exercise a few more times, staying with the pattern.
You can also add emotions or feelings to the ball, like it is a slow, fast, hot,
cold, sad, or happy ball.

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PRA – Psychosocial Activity Two: From My Heart to Your Heart

Ages: 4 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: A playful and quick activity that connects
children, builds peer relationships, and promotes a sense of community
and positive support. This is a useful activity to use during the first week
of class or during times of tension in the classroom. Include teachers,
caregivers and volunteers. This is also an activity that you can use with
a group of parents—or to a group of teachers, to encourage support
between colleagues.
Materials: Space to stand and play.
Preparation: First, practice this activity with a colleague before
introducing it to the children.

STEP 1: Invite the children to divide into pairs. Include yourself in a pair.
STEP 2: Using your partner, demonstrate to the children how they should
act out the words as they speak to each other. Begin by saying, “From

UNIT TWO
my heart to your heart, I wish you well”, while pointing to your own heart
and then pointing to the heart of your partner. Take turns saying it to each
other. Give the children time to begin with their partners.
STEP 3: Then lead the children through other body part connections. For
NOTE   Make sure that local example, “From my shoulder to your shoulder, I wish you well”, while
cultural norms are respected—and pointing or connecting your shoulder to your partner’s shoulder. Let the
only allow the children to touch
each other during the activity if
children follow what you do with their own partners. Other connections:
appropriate and personal privacy “From my toes to your toes, I wish you well”; “From my hand to your
can be respected. For example,
while saying, “From my ear to
hand, I wish you well”; “From my knee to your knee, I wish you well”.
your ear, I wish you well”, the child STEP 4: Once 5 to 15 body connections have been made, ask the children
can touch his/her ear and then how it feels to have someone wish them well?
the ear of his/her partner. If touch
is not culturally or emotionally
appropriate, the child can simply Message to convey to the children: We can each express and show
point to the body part being
named. others that we care and support each other. It is nice to show empathy
and wish our friends, family and community well.

PRA – Psychosocial Activity Three: Exercises to Relax, Calm and

Comfort

Ages: 3 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: To facilitate and encourage children to feel
present in their bodies and learn activities that will help them to feel
relaxed, calm and comforted. You can teach children to use these
techniques when they feel scared, anxious, sad, angry, or worried.
Teach 1 of these exercises to the children each week, and use at least 1
relaxation exercise every day. They can be used before an art activity or
when you notice that the children need to lower their energy or anxiety
levels. You and the children can also choose 1 relaxation activity with
which to end the day as a comforting ritual and to help them go home
relaxed.

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Materials: Open space within which to lie down or stand as a group.

THINK: It is a good idea to try the
exercises out with your colleagues It can be done indoors or outdoors. If available, use plastic sheeting, a
and volunteers, and discuss how tarpaulin, or mats when lying on the floor.
best to implement them with the
children. Do these exercises help
when feeling stress or anxiety? Exercise A: Deep Breaths
Why?
Step 1: Teach children how to become aware of their breath and to
breathe deeply while also using their imaginations. Use this quick deep
breathing exercise daily with the children.
Step 2: While sitting or standing, ask each child to make a fist with his/
her right hand and imagine it is holding a sweet smelling flower, fruit, or
favorite food.
Step 3: Next ask each child to make a fist with his/her left hand and
pretend it is holding a candle or fire.
Step 4: Direct the children to inhale deeply the smell of the flower/fruit/
food in their left hands and then blow out the candle and fire in their right
hands. Continue deeply breathing in the sweet smell through the nose
and breathing out the fire from the mouth. Repeat the cycle of breathing
in and out at least 3 times.

Exercise B: The Puppet

Step 1: Use the puppets included in the kit as examples when teaching
this exercise. Explain to the children that sometimes it feels good to
pretend to be a doll or puppet and have loose arms, legs, hands and feet.
Step 2: Start by shaking your legs together, then your arms, your neck,
your shoulders, and your torso. Encourage the children to be as silly as
needed as they relax their bodies to move like a puppet.
Step 3: Ask the children to notice if any part of their bodies feels more
tight or stiff than other parts. Invite them to pay extra attention and care
to shaking and releasing that part of their bodies.

Exercise C: Butterfly Hugs

Step 1: Cross your arms across your chest as if you were holding yourself,
so your left hand is on your right shoulder and right hand on your left
shoulder. Ask the children to imitate you.
Step 2: Keep your arms crossed and alternately tap each of your hands
on the shoulder it is touching: tap the left hand on the right shoulder;
then tap the right hand on the left shoulder; then continue to repeat
this pattern. Tapping 1 side at a time is the most important part of this
exercise.
Step 3: You can tell the children that the tapping of their hands is like the
wings of a butterfly or bird moving up and down. One wing moves up and
comes down, and then the other wing moves up and comes down. Ask
the children to tap for 1 minute, and then stop, take a breath, and notice
how they are feeling. Ask the students: How do you feel?
Step 4: Continue tapping. You can do this exercise for as much or as little
time as you and the children find comfortable, and as many times a day
as needed.

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Exercise D: Belly Breathing

Step 1: Have the children lie on their backs and put their hands on their
stomachs.
Step 2: Direct them to take a slow deep breath in through the nose
and let it out through the mouth with a gentle “a-h-h-h-h-h-h” sound.
Tell them they should feel and see the hand on the stomach move up
and down as they breathe in and out. Direct them to breathe in slowly
through the nose and out through the mouth like they are trying to move
a feather up in the air.
Step 3: Breathe in slowly to the count of 2, 3, 4, and out 2, 3, and 4.
Repeat several times.
Step 4: Ask the children how the exercise makes them feel. Practice the
technique with them regularly. Talk to them about when to use it—for
example, when they feel worried, angry or frightened. Encourage them
to use the technique at home when going to sleep.
NOTE   Children and adults

UNIT TWO
of any age can benefit from Exercise E: Laughter
these relaxation activities. Use
these techniques for yourself Laughter is way that children can naturally release stress, and relax. Think
when you are feeling stressed of games or ways to make the children laugh. For example, sit or stand
or overwhelmed. You can also
teach the skills to a child’s parent/
in a circle with the children and have them take turns trying to make each
guardian and encourage using other laugh by making funny sounds or expressions with their faces and
them at home to release anxiety
bodies or by telling each other funny stories. Discuss with them what
and stress.
makes them laugh.

PRA – Psychosocial Activity Four: Storytelling with Puppets

Ages: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 8 years

Psychosocial Objective: Children find it easier to talk about events
openly through the use of magical or fantasy characters and stories.
Through fantasy, play children can safely express and resolve their own
worries, fears, thoughts, dreams, and hopes. The most important part of
psychosocial play with puppets is that you and the other caregivers listen
and pay attention to the children’s stories and help them find resolution
in their play.
Materials: Finger and hand puppets; and other materials with which to
build a setting for the puppets, such as paper, modeling clay, other toys
from the kit, or objects from the surrounding environment.
Preparation: Gather all of the materials listed above.
NOTE   This theme can be difficult
and emotional for the children. It
is important that you give them Examples of Puppet Play:
space to safely express their STEP 1: Have a discussion with the children about the emergency
feelings and experiences. If you
choose to introduce this theme, (consider questions they might have about who, what, where, and why).
you must listen VERY attentively Invite the children as a group to use the puppets and other materials to
to the children and guide their
narrative towards a positive play through the events that they remember from the emergency.
story of survival and strength. STEP 2: Ask the children to make up their own story and play freely. You
Encourage them to think of
ways that the puppets can solve can separate the children into groups of 2 to 5 children, making sure
problems or help one another that each group has at least 2 puppets. Each small group can take turns
through the emergency.
performing its story for the larger group.

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STEP 3: Separate the children into smaller groups and invite them to use
the puppets to tell a story about how 1 character was sad and the others
helped him/her to feel better—or how a puppet was afraid and was helped
to feel safe and protected. Encourage the children to use the puppets to
act out how they were helped. Was it someone, something, a word, an
action, a place? Offer ideas to the children, such as teaching the puppets
the relaxation exercises they are learning. By helping their puppets
through difficulty, the children can build their confidence and self-esteem.

PRA – Psychosocial Activity Five: Rituals and Routines

Ages: 2 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: During emergencies and conflict situations,
the familiar rituals and routines of children at home and in school are
disrupted. It is important to introduce the structure of rituals and routines
into their learning environment. The more predictable their day, the safer
and more protected the children will feel. Help them to identify rituals or
routines in their day at school or at home. Ask them to think of old and
new rituals, customs, and routines that are meaningful, enjoyable and
important to them.

Examples:
• Ask the children to decide on a ritual to begin and end the day at
school. It can be a special song or game they sing or play together at
the start of the day, and a relaxation activity before they go home.
• Children are full of energy and might find it difficult to focus on an art
activity or class lesson. Start a new 2-minute ritual to release energy
before doing a sitting activity or lesson. This could be dancing in a
circle, stretching their arms towards the sky, tensing and releasing
muscles, passing or rolling a ball to each other, or any other culturally
relevant games. End the 1-2 minutes of physical activity with the
children taking 2 deep breaths all together. By doing this you will
help the children to release energy, as well as calm their bodies.
Next ask them to sit while you explain the art activity or lesson. This
routine sequence of activities is a way of providing comfort and an
understanding of the learning environment.
• Every time the children complete an art activity ask for their
permission to put the artwork on the wall or in a circle on the floor
before inviting them to spend a minute walking around and looking at
their classmates’ artwork.
• Establish rituals around clean-up after art and play activities, such as
where to put back toys and materials.
• Speak to parents/guardians about the importance of routines and
customs at home.
• Have discussions with the children about rituals and routines at home
THINK: What are other rituals and that make them feel happy or safe. Ask the students: What time
routines you can implement in the
learning environment? do you go to sleep? What are your morning or bedtime rituals and
routines? What are your religious or cultural customs or rituals?

36 Early Childhood Development Kit Guidance

 © UNICEF/ZIMA2011-00015/Giacomo Pirozzi
UNIT THREE:

CHILD-
PROTECTION
ACTIVITIES

The protection of children from all forms of harm should be the main
LEARNING
concern of parents, teachers, caregivers, and any person who has children
OUTCOMES
in their care. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expresses
At the end of Unit Three you this ‘duty of care’. By signing the ‘Code of Conduct’ and the ‘Contract
and the children will be able to: of Employment’, caregivers become accountable for implementing good
1. Demonstrate how to standards of child care that prevent harm and keep children safe and
strengthen the protection protected at all times while in their care.
of children while they are in
your care
2. Demonstrate how to Key child-protection messages to convey to the children in your care:
implement child-protection Children need to know:
activities
1. How to recognize situations of danger
2. That they have the right and the power to say no to people and
situations that might cause harm to them
NOTE   Children, even very young
ones, can feel and tell when a 3. Who, where and how to ask for support
person and/or a situation are
threatening and dangerous.

NOTE   Remember that no

one is allowed to harm a
child physically, sexually or
emotionally, or through neglect,
not even another child or family
member or teacher or caregiver.
The protection of children is the
ultimate responsibility of adults. The objective of Unit Three is to strengthen child-protection in the Child-
Friendly Space/Environment (CFS/E).

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ACTIVITY ONE:
How can I strengthen the protection of children?

Young children demand constant supervision and care in order to

ensure their safety and well-being. The following section contains some
suggestions on how to strengthen child-protection in the ECD center.

• Management of large groups of children

One of the best strategies for managing large groups of children is to
separate them into groups and designate an adult or older child as leader
NOTE   Involve the children
of each group.
in picking the name for their
group—it is fun, and it builds The care of young children is very demanding. Therefore, it is important
ownership. Also you can
engage the children in drawing that a proper leader/adult to child ratio is respected to ensure effective
the symbol of their group (for supervision and protection. The following table indicates how many
example, a palm tree for the Palm
Tree Group). Record the names adults are needed to ensure that all of the children of a certain age-group
of the children in your exercise are properly supervised and supported. This information will also help
book and write the names of the
children underneath each group. you to plan your activities and know approximately how many volunteers
This will help you to keep track of you will need to involve in the activities. Give a name and assign a leader
their attendance, and also learn
their names quickly. to each group—this will facilitate the smooth running of the activities,
because it is easier to group the children by calling the name of the group.

Table 2: Adult/child supervision ratio

NOTE   Remember that when

AGE GROUP ADULT/CHILD RATIO
children are engaged in
Infants/babies 1 adult caregiver for every 5 children
interesting and enjoyable learning
activities, it becomes easier to 0 to 1 year
manage them,
Toddlers 1 adult caregiver for every 10 or 15 children
2 to 3 years

Pre-school children 1 adult caregiver for every 20 or 25 children

4 to 8 years

• Older children taking care of younger children

The aim of involving older children in the care of younger children is to
NOTE   Highlight that the care of
children is a duty that male and recognize and build on children’s natural ability to share, learn, experience,
female caregivers share and have fun together. In many real family contexts, older children—very
often girls—are expected to take care of their younger siblings or family
members from a very young age.

In situations of emergency and crisis, the involvement of older children in

giving care to younger children becomes particularly important. Building
the capacity of older children to look after, play with, understand and
respond to younger children’s needs contributes toward building the
confidence of the older children. It gives those older children a wonderful
opportunity to feel good about themselves, because they are helping
others and contributing to their community. The involvement of older

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children also strengthens child-protection, as older children contribute to

the supervision and quality of care of younger children.

This session is adapted from the Child-to-Child Trust materials: ‘Child-to-

Child and Children Living in Camps’ edited by Clare Hanbury, and ‘The
River of Hope’ Healthlink Worldwide, 2006.

Checklist 3: Older children taking care of younger children

Please think of the following considerations when involving older children in

the care of younger children:

• B
 uilding their capacity for understanding and responding to the needs of
younger children.

• Explaining what you expect them to do when taking care of younger

children.

• Rewarding and praising them for their efforts.

• O
 bserving and listening to them, and creating a special time for them
to discuss what they enjoy and what they find difficult in taking care of
younger children.

• Creating special opportunities for them to play away from the

responsibility of looking after the younger children.

• M
 aking sure that they also receive the same quality of care that they are
giving to younger children.

• M
 aking sure that they understand that both boys and girls can take care
of younger children.

UNIT THREE
• Making sure that you support them sufficiently in their tasks.

• M
 aking sure that you do not overwhelm them with responsibilities; they
should help you, but not substitute for you.

• M
 aking a timetable for when to involve the older children in the activities
of the ECD center, and sharing it with the older children’s teachers. The
support of older children in the ECD center should not interfere with their
school attendance.

The following section presents some activities that you can implement
with older children (7-8 years and above) when engaging them in the
care of younger children. Coordinate these activities with the primary
education teachers of the Child-Friendly Space/Environment (EFS/E).

Older children Activity A: Abdiwahab’s story

NOTE   You can adapt the name

Age: 7-8 years and above
of the protagonist to your own
context. Learning: Build the capacity of older children in understanding and caring
for younger children; enable older children to feel useful and appreciated
for their contribution to their community.
What you can do:
• Draw a simple picture of a child (aged about 18 months) on a paper.
Use the paper roll and the crayons contained in the ECD Kit.

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• Tell Abdiwahab’s story.

Abdiwahab was a happy little baby. He was well fed. His mother and father
played with him and he used to laugh and try to copy their actions and words.
He learned to walk at around 14 months. Most of the time he laughed and had
fun: chasing the chickens, banging on pots, or playing with his older sisters.
His mother watched him and kept him away from dangers, like the fire. If he
ever hurt himself, his mother would pick him up and comfort him. She took
good care of his personal hygiene: she made sure that Abdiwahab did not
put dirty hands in his mouth, that his nappy was clean, that his hands were
washed with soap regularly, that at around 1 year of age he started to be potty
trained, and that he was protected from the fire, sharp objects and situations
of danger.

Then one day Abdiwahab’s father went away. Soon after that his mother
became very sick. She had to spend much of her time resting in bed. No one
had any time to look after Abdiwahab. His older siblings gave him a bowl of
porridge, but no one helped him eat it. He started to get thinner. His siblings
were now busy doing household chores and caring for their mother. No one
had time to cuddle him, play with him, or teach him to talk. When he cried
there was no one to pick him up and comfort him. One day he burnt his hand
in the fire. Over time he became sick and weak. He would sit in the corner of
the house silently rocking himself.

• S
 eparate the children into groups. Ask them to discuss the
problems that Abdiwahab faced.
• Ask each group to report back Abdiwahab’s problems, and write
them around the picture you drew earlier. Make sure you use
enough space to draw a picture that is visible to all of the children,
and that you write simple key words in clear handwriting.
• Highlight the following points when discussing Abdiwahab’s story
with older children:
· loss of parental/caregiver care, attention, protection and comfort
· less chance to play
· less stimulation; nobody has the time to teach Abdiwahab how
to talk
· less care; Abdiwahab’s personal hygiene is neglected and he has
a higher risk of getting sick
· less comfort and support; Abdiwahab is left largely on his own
· not enough good food; not enough help in eating
· loss of supervision and protection
• Ask the children to think about possible solutions to the problems.

Older children Activity B: Practical activities

Age: 8 years and above

Learning: Build the capacity of older children in helping younger children.

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What you can do:

• Separate the older children into groups (you can use the same
groups as Activity 1).
• Ask the groups to imagine that Abdiwahab is one of the children at
the Child-Friendly Space/Environment (CFS/E). Ask 1 of the children
in each group to play the role of Abdiwahab, and ask each group to
role play how they would take care of Abdiwahab. The following are
some ideas:
· Comfort him; play with him with the toys of the ECD Kit; help
him to speak; sing to him; teach him rhymes; tell him stories;
praise him; encourage him to eat.
• Ask 1 of the groups to perform the role play and discuss with the
children what to do to help younger children of the CFS/E.
• Ask each group to discuss what actions they can take to support
younger children in the CFS/E.
• Make a list of activities that older children can implement in the
CFS/E. The following are some suggestions:
· Make a list of all the games and songs that young children enjoy
· Make a list of all the stories they can tell to younger children
· Develop simple books for younger children using the ECD Kit
materials (see Unit One for directions)
· Support younger children playing with the toys of the ECD Kit
· Help the volunteers and caregivers in the CFS/E in strengthening
the good hygiene of the younger children
· Make a list and draw pictures of how to protect and supervise
younger children and what to do in case of an emergency

UNIT THREE
· Make a list and draw pictures of how to strengthen the security
of younger children (e.g., keeping them away from fires, sharp
objects, and plastic bags)
NOTE   Make sure that the · Be aware of the special needs of younger children with disabilities
support of older children in · Listen to younger children, and ensure that younger children are
the CFS/E does not interfere
with their school attendance supervised at all times
(especially for girls). • Older children can be twinned with younger children. They can
meet the children in the morning when they come to the CFS/E.
• Discuss with older children issues of child-protection and involve
NOTE   Make sure that older
older children in the implementation of ACTIVITY TWO: Messages
children report any concerns
about the well-being of children and activities that can contribute to the protection of children.
to you immediately.

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ACTIVITY TWO:
Messages and activities that can contribute to the protection
of children

The following activities aim at building children’s self-protection capacity

by teaching them how to recognize and respond to situations of danger.
Some of the activities in this session have been adapted from www.
keepingchildrensafe.org.uk.

Child-protection Activity One: Good touches and bad touches

Age group: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 8 years

Materials: Jumbo crayons and drawing paper.
Preparation: Distribute a piece of drawing paper and a crayon to each
child.
Play: Ask the children to draw around their hands. Invite them to color
their paper hands and to add details. Help younger children to draw
around their hands. Encourage children to be creative in the decoration
of their paper hands.
Discuss with the children:
• What are good things about hands? (e.g., they help us to be
creative, they are useful, and we can touch things and people).
• Is every type of touch good? Who can touch you? Who cannot
touch you?
• What are good touches and what are bad touches?
Good touches are from people who care for you. They make you
feel protected and nurtured. Bad touches are from people who do
NOT care for you. They make you feel threatened and scared. They
make you feel uncomfortable and sad. They hurt you.
NOTE   Adapt this activity to the
• Why are bad touches bad?
age group and to the cultural
context. Make sure that girls • If we experience a bad touch what should we say or do?
and boys are involved in the • Make a poster or mural using the handprints and child protection
discussion. It is also necessary
to have the sessions separated messages and display it in the CFS/E. This is a good way to raise
by gender, so that each gender awareness about child-protection and remind children of what they
feels comfortable to express itself.
Make sure there are female adults need to do.
with the girls and male adults with
the boys.
Message to convey to the children: When you experience a bad touch
say: “STOP, I do not like that!”, and walk away immediately. Tell what
happened to an adult you trust as soon as possible.

Child-Protection Activity Two: Scream FIRE!

Age group: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 8 years

Materials: none
Preparation: Explain to the children that if they are approached in a way
they do not like, if they are asked to touch someone in a way they do not
like, or if they feel afraid for any reason, they should:

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• SCREAM as loud as they can

NOTE   Get children to think of
other words they could shout that • SHOUT ‘FIRE, FIRE, FIRE’ to attract attention
attract attention. • RUN away to a safe place as fast as they can

Play: Ask children to play act this simple scenario in pairs:

1. 1 child acts out the role of a stranger asking the child to come with
him/her.
2. The other child shouts ‘FIRE, FIRE, FIRE’ and runs away.

Message to convey to the children: People will take more notice if you
are in danger and shout FIRE! If you see a friend in danger you can also
shout FIRE! Always tell someone you trust why you shouted FIRE!

Child-Protection Activity Three: Mia’s story

Age group: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 8 years

Materials: None
Preparation: Mia’s story tells about dangerous situations and what
children should do in case they find themselves in a similar situation. You
can use the puppets contained in the ECD Kit to help you tell the story.
NOTE   You can use local
traditional stories that convey You can change the name of the main characters of the story. Involve the
child-protection messages. children while you are telling the story, by asking questions and using
different voices to represent different characters.

Storytelling: “How Mia and Arwo Learned to Keep Safe”

UNIT THREE
How Mia and Arwo Learned to Keep Safe

Mia the gazelle was born on a sunny day in the hot savannah of the Maasai
Mara. Mia’s mom and dad were very happy as they waited for a long time for
Mia and her twin brother Arwo. Mom and dad welcomed Mia and Arwo with
a lot of happiness. They made sure they had a safe place where they could
sleep and play, and a lot of food and safe water so they would grow healthy
and happy. The savannah is a very dangerous place, and mom and dad made
sure that Mia and Arwo were always protected.

Mia and Arwo were very happy children. They played most of the day creating
adventures in the bush, using trees for hide and seek. Mom and dad were
always very protective. Mom repeatedly told Mia and Arwo not to go too far.
She told them to play nearby, where she could see them. Mia and Arwo loved
running in the savannah and chasing each other.

One afternoon, while Mia and Arwo were running, they adventured far from
home into an isolated place. While they were playing, an old gazelle approached
them. The old gazelle introduced himself by the name of Mr. Bino. He admired
the playfulness and speed of Mia and Arwo and spent some time talking with
them and even joined in their games. Mia thought that it was very strange
for an adult to play with them, but she enjoyed the game and continued to
play. She also noticed that while they were playing Mr. Bino touched her very
often, hugging and stroking her, in a way that she did not like. After a while she
felt very uncomfortable, but did not know what to do to stop Mr. Bino from
behaving this way.

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After a while Mr. Bino told Mia and Arwo that his house was nearby and that
he had many sweets and toys to share with Mia and Arwo. Mr. Bino said that
he knew their parents and that their parents wouldn’t mind if they went with
him to his house. Mia and Arwo knew that mom and dad were waiting for
them at home, and that they told them never to go with people they did not
know well—but Mr. Bino was very insistent. Arwo almost followed Mr. Bino,
but Mia was very strong and decisive. She did not like Mr. Bino and told Arwo
they had to go right home—otherwise mom and dad would punish them.
While they were returning home Mia told Arwo that she did not like Mr. Bino
and that she felt very uncomfortable with him, but Arwo did not understand
what Mia was saying. He thought that Mr. Bino was a funny old gazelle.

Mia felt very upset. Her brother did not understand why she felt uncomfortable.
She felt very lonely and became very silent. Mia’s mom noticed this sudden
change of behavior and asked Mia if she was feeling well. Mia felt very
ashamed to tell her mom what she felt when Mr Bino was touching her. Mia’s
mom asked Mia again with very kind words what was the matter. Mia knew
that she could trust her, and finally told her what had happened with Mr. Bino
and how she felt.

Mia’s mom hugged and comforted Mia, who finally fell asleep. The day after,
mom and dad talked with Mia and Arwo and explained that they were not
happy when they were not nearby the house and could not see them. Mom
explained that Mr. Bino was not a nice gazelle, and that they should have
never played with him, as they could not trust him. Dad explained that he and
mom did not know Mr. Bino and that Mr. Bino was a liar—Mr. Bino had lied to
them when he said that he knew their parents. Dad also explained that what
Mr. Bino did while playing with Mia was very wrong, and that if something
similar happens again, Mia and Arwo should shout ‘fire, fire, fire’ as loud as
they can and run away immediately. They should never follow strangers. Mia
and Arwo understood that they had done something dangerous by playing far
away from home. Arwo apologized to Mia and thank her for insisting on going
back home instead of following Mr. Bino. From now on he would always listen
to what his sister told him, and scream ‘fire, fire, fire’ in case of danger.

NOTE   Adapt Mia and Arwo’s

story to your own context and Message to convey to the children: Never adventure into isolated
culture. places on your own. Make sure that kind adults and older children are
around you. Do not listen to strangers. Scream ‘fire, fire, fire’ when you
feel in danger—people will take more notice of what is happening to you.

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 UNIT FOUR:

LIFESAVING
MESSAGES
ACTIVITIES
LEARNING In emergency contexts, education can convey important messages that
OUTCOMES can help children to protect themselves from harm. These important
messages vary from context to context. The following section presents
At the end of Unit Four you and some activities that can convey lifesaving messages and support children
the children will be able to: in contexts of emergency. Three areas of lifesaving messages are
1. Implement mine and developed in this Unit:
explosives remnant of war
(ERW) activities
2. Implement Disaster Risk • Mines and explosives remnant of war (ERW) activities
Reduction (DRR) activities • Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities
3. Implement Health Promotion • Health promotion activities
activities
4. Implement Peace and
Reconciliation activities In addition, Activity Two of this unit provides activities that convey
messages of peace and reconciliation.

NOTE   Lifesaving messages aim

at teaching children important
knowledge, skills and attitudes
that can contribute toward
protecting them from harm.

YOUR ROLE is to select the messages and activities that are relevant in
your emergency context and implement them with the group of children
in your care.
THINK: Read through the activities
and lifesaving messages. What
lifesaving messages are relevant
in your context? Why? Discuss
with your colleagues, the UNICEF
team or Implementing Partners
(IPs) what lifesaving messages
and learning activities you should
implement in the CFS/E.
The objective of Unit Four is to provide practical examples of how to
convey lifesaving messages that are context and culture related—and of
NOTE   If you have extra how to implement peace and reconciliation activities.
activities and messages that
are specifically relevant in your
context, involve your colleagues
in developing them.

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ACTIVITY ONE:
Education messages and learning activities that can prevent
or mitigate situations of risk
NOTE   Ask the UNICEF team or
the IPs or other agencies working
in your area, for a list with
• Mines and explosives remnant of war (ERW) activities
pictures of the most common Mines and explosives are usually found in contexts in which armed conflict
types of mines and explosives
that can be found in your area.
has taken place. Mined fields are a tactic of war, and they are intended
Also make sure that you have to kill people. It is a fact that the majority of mines and explosives kill
a list/map of the dangerous civilians, and in specific children who happen to play in areas not cleared
locations that must be avoided.
Involve demining agencies in the from mines and explosives. Mines and explosives can have different
delivery of ‘mine education in the shapes and colors.
CFS/E’.

Mines Activity 1: Do not touch dangerous objects!

Age group: 2 to 4 years

Materials: Familiar objects that can be found around the household. For
example, glasses, cups, pots, soda bottles and soda bottles taps, leaves,
and pieces of waste. Mine and explosive prototypes used for ‘mine risk
education’, or pictures of them.
Explain: Tell the children that in your area there are some dangerous
objects that can cause terrible consequences to children who touch
them, like sever a limb or even kill. Show the dangerous objects to the
children.
Play: Place the familiar objects and the prototypes or pictures of mines
randomly around the playing area. Ask a group of children (ideally a group
of 10 children maximum) to pick up the safe objects from the ground.
Every time a child picks up the ‘mine or the explosive’ or inadvertently
touches it, make a big noise and ask the child to lie down on the ground,
NOTE   During the activity and
close his/her eyes and stay still.
while in the presence of the Ask the children: ‘What happened to… (say the name of the child)?
children, do NOT arbitrarily What should (say the name of the child) have done? Repeat the message:
touch the prototypes or pictures
representing mines and do not touch unfamiliar objects even if they look attractive and call your
explosives. This should help attention! You may die or be injured.
the children to understand the
NEVER touch message.
Message to convey to the children: Do not touch mines and explosives.
Do not touch any unusual object that you may find on the ground. Keep
away from dangerous areas. Always play in safe areas and walk on safe
paths and roads. Tell an adult if you see a suspicious object—do not try
to touch or remove it.

Mines Activity two: Saul’s story

Age group: 3/4 to 8 years

Read or tell the story:

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Saul’s story

One sunny day, Saul and his friends left their village to collect honey in the
forest. The children followed the path through bushes and fields. On the way,
Saul came across a strange object the size of a tennis ball. Saul was very
curious and he decided to investigate. He picked up the object and threw it at a
big rock. His friends were frightened and ran away. With Saul’s second throw,
the object exploded. From the explosion, Saul suffered deep wounds all over
his body. Saul lost his left leg and he had internal injuries. Saul survived after
spending many weeks in the hospital, but he cannot run and play as he did
before because he lost his leg.

NOTE   You can change the name

of the character of the story and Ask the children: What did Saul do? What were the consequences?
use local names and local places
to make the story more culturally
What should have Saul done instead?
relevant. What is important is that
children understand not to touch
or pick up unidentified objects.
Message to convey to the children: Do not touch unfamiliar objects
even if they look attractive and call your attention! You may die or be
injured.

NOTE   You can create a name • Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities
for your risk preparedness plan Disaster Risk Reduction activities aim at preventing or/and mitigating the
that is memorable and relevant
in your context. Use a catchy
impact that disasters can have on a community, school, and/or CFS/E.
word that the children can easily You and your community may already be a victim of a natural disaster
remember—for example, ‘Keep
Safe Plan’.
or a conflict. In order to prepare for an emergency, it is a very good
practice to develop a risk preparedness plan. The objective of a risk
preparedness plan is to ensure that the children, caregivers, teachers
and all other personnel working in the CFS/E are fully aware of the basic
procedures to follow in case of a dangerous situation.

DRR Activity 1: How to develop a ‘risk preparedness plan’

Age group: Toddlers, mothers with infants, pre-school children

Preparation: The best way to develop a risk preparedness plan is to know
the risks that your community runs, and assess the hazards present in
the CFS/E center.
UNIT FOUR

The following steps will help you to develop a ‘risk preparedness plan’ for
the CFS/E in your context.
• Gather relevant information about the risks that your community
runs, by asking important questions and by assessing the hazards
present in the CFS/E.

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Checklist 4: Assess disasters in your context

• H
 as any natural disaster hit your community in the past? If yes, what
ones?

• What happened when the disaster occurred?

• W
 hat hazards are present in the ECD center or CFS/E? For example, is
it likely that a fire can start in the kitchen? Is the playground free from
hazards?

• D
 oes the ECD center or CFS/E have a safe place where the children can
go in case of an emergency?

• Who can you call for help in case of an emergency?

NOTE   If there are structural
hazards that can be removed, Once you have gathered all of the important information, you will have
involve the ECD Steering
Committee and the UNICEF team
a better understanding of the disasters that could potentially hit your
or IPs in attending to them as community and the particular hazards present in the CFS/E.
soon as possible.

• Develop the ‘Keep safe plan’

In order to prevent and mitigate disasters, specific Disaster Risk Reduction
guidelines should be adapted to the specific context and emergency. The
table below presents some ideas of what to do in case of a fire or an
earthquake. Involve the UNICEF team or the IPs in helping you to develop
a risk preparedness plan suitable to your context.

Table 3: Fire drills and instructions for emergencies

Emergency What should children do in case of a fire?

NOTE   Children can understand
and memorize simple directions • A
 s soon as they hear the fire drill, walk to the nearest
to safe places or meeting points. exit without rushing or pushing other children
Repeat the instructions regularly
Fire • Walk to the meeting point outside the CFS/E
to reinforce memorization.
• If there is a lot of smoke, children should cover their
mouths and crawl along

Emergency What should children do in case of an earthquake?

• F ind a safe place and drop down—for example, hide

under a table or a door frame
• Cover their heads and necks
• Stay away from wardrobes or heavy furniture that
could fall on them and cause harm
Earthquake
• Hold on to something secure
• Once they’ve found a safe place, stay there—do not
move until the shaking stops
• Stay calm and sing a song while they are waiting for
rescue

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DRR Activity 2: How to communicate important risk preparedness

messages

Age group: toddlers, mothers with infants, pre-school children

Some ideas for how to communicate what to do in case of a disaster:
• Art and Craft activities: Ask the children to draw what they should
do in case of an emergency.
• Drama, songs and traditional dances: Role play. Together with the
children and the caregivers, enact a possible emergency situation.
• Toys: Use the toys of the ECD Kit to demonstrate the consequences
of natural disasters. For example, use the building blocks and
the animal puppets to show what can happen in the case of an
earthquake or a tornado.

YOUR ROLE is to develop basic instructions for children to follow in case of

an emergency, and to communicate and repeat those instructions regularly.

DRR Activity 3: Group environment project

Ages: 4 to 8 years
Psychosocial Objective: To encourage exploration of and familiarity with
their surrounding environment, and provide the opportunity to work in
smaller groups. It also encourages creative thinking and problem solving.
Materials: Paper, crayons, colored pencils, glue, and objects from the
area surrounding the learning center or the children’s home.
Preparation: Introduce the theme: natural disasters. Talk about what
happened during the emergency. Spend time with the children walking
outside the learning environment. Encourage them to observe how their
environment has changed as a result of the disaster. Encourage them
to pick up objects they want to use for a group project. It can be sticks,
leaves, stones, wood, pieces of plastic or metal, used paper, cloth, or
anything else they find and want to use.

STEP 1: Separate the children into smaller groups of 3 to 4. Discuss what

they observed.
UNIT FOUR

STEP 2: Discuss with the children what happened during the natural
disaster, and share ideas on how to prevent natural disasters from
happening in the future.
STEP 3: Ask them to sit together with their collected objects and build or
create a picture of the natural disaster. They can glue things onto paper,
make a toy, create a game, or tell a story using the different objects.

YOUR ROLE is to adapt the activities to your context and emergency

setting.

Message to convey to the children: The environment we live in is a very

special and delicate friend. If we do not take care of it properly, natural
disasters are much more likely to occur.

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DRR Activity Four: Move like nature

Ages: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 8 years

Psychosocial Objective: To learn about nature, express feelings, and
provide physical release. The more knowledge children have about the
world around them, the better. This activity is especially useful after
natural disasters. Nature can cause destruction, but it also is resilient and
repairs itself.
Materials: Pieces of paper, pens, and a container like a hat, bowl or box
to hold the pieces of paper; a space within which the children can move
and play.
Preparation: Write the words for different forces or qualities of nature on
NOTE   It is very important to
the pieces of paper. Write each 1 on a separate piece of paper. Choose
include both positive natural
forces as well as frightening and words from nature based on the age group and the nature setting with
destructive ones. which the children are familiar. Some suggestions are wind, rain, sunshine,
hurricane, cyclone, thunderstorm, rocks, tornado, drought, earthquake,
tide, waves, soft wind/rain, strong wind/rain, volcano, growing tree,
monsoon, flood, tall grass moving on a windy day, and loud wind/rain.
Put the pieces of paper inside the container.

STEP 1: Have the children stand or sit in a circle together on the floor.
STEP 2: Explain to the children that they are going to be playing a game
about nature. Have a brief discussion about different forces in nature,
focusing on the words you wrote.
STEP 3: Invite the children to one by one take turns reaching into the
container and picking out a piece of paper.
NOTE   For ages 2-3, you can lead STEP 4: After a child has picked out a piece of paper, s/he should use his/
them by orally introducing and
describing the word and acting it her body to act out his/her understanding of the word to the group. Be
out together as a group. ready to help him/her read the word quietly so the other children don’t
hear what it is.
STEP 5: Explain that the children can use their arms and legs to move
like the word, and use their feet, hands and voice to make sounds. For
example, the sound of soft rain or wind can be made by quickly rubbing
your hands together.
STEP 6: The other children can try and guess the word. They can also
volunteer to help their peer communicate the word, if needed. Encourage
the children to work together to understand the word.
Have a discussion as a group after each child has performed his/her word.
What do the children know about that word from nature? Have they ever
seen or experienced it? Do they have ideas about why it happens?
STEP 7: Contextualize this activity within your emergency context. Talk
about what happened during the natural disaster. Work with the children,
and identify relevant risk reduction actions that they can take (e.g., fire
drills, find safety under a table, and move away from windows).

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• Health promotion activities

Health promotion messages can be lifesaving when implemented
regularly. Key important messages about personal hygiene and sanitation
practices can lower the risk of contracting waterborne life-threatening
diseases like diarrhea. The following section presents some examples of
health promotion activities:

Health Promotion Activity One: Wash your hands regularly

Age group: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 6 years

Materials: Soap
Preparation: Explain to the children that they should wash their hands
with soap (or ash) and water after being to the toilet and before eating.
Explain that they should not put dirty hands or fingers in their mouths.
Explain that harmful bacteria (which are very small bad things) live under
their fingernails and on their hands, even though they cannot see them.
The bacteria can make us very ill. By using the soap and water, we kill
these bacteria.
What you can do:
• Create a song that instructs the children to wash their hands each
time they have been to the toilet.
NOTE   Sing the song you created
• Add movements that enhance washing the palms and the back of
while the children are washing their hands, in between their fingers and under their fingernails
their hands, and encourage them with soap (or ash) and water.
to sing along.
• Tell children not to put dirty hands in their mouth.

Health Promotion Activity Two: ‘Mr. Poo and Mrs. Pee go to the toilet’

NOTE   Use funny names for the

fantasy characters—something Age group: 2 to 3 years; and 4 to 6 years
that is the equivalent of poo (for Materials: None
solid faeces) and pee (for urine) in
your language. Preparation: Explain to the children that they should always take ‘Mr.
Poo and Mrs. Pee’ to the toilet. They should let adults or older children
know—with enough time—when they need to go to the toilet. They can
also ask older children to help them.
UNIT FOUR

What you can do:

NOTE   Adapt the songs to your
• Create a song, a poem, a rhyme that encourages children to say
context and culture. There might
be some rhymes or poems in when they feel the need to go to the toilet. For example: ‘Always
your tradition that support the tell your mommy when you need to pee! Always tell your daddy
potty-training of children.
when you need to poo. If your mommy is not there, tell your brother
instead, if your daddy is not there, tell your sister indeed!’
• Add movements to the song that mime what children should do.
NOTE   Use the song when
children go to the toilet. This will • Make up stories about Mr. Poo and Mrs. Pee. Tell children that they
reinforce the positive behavior. should always take Mr. Poo and Mrs. Pee to the toilet. Tell them
that children will get sick if they do not take Mr. Poo and Mrs. Pee
to the toilet.

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ACTIVITY TWO:
Peace and Reconciliation Activities

In Early Childhood Education, children learn how to deal with conflict

through their interactions with peers and adults. At this age, peace and
reconciliation education focuses on learning how to deal with conflicts
positively without resorting to aggressive behaviors. It is very difficult to
talk about peace in contexts where extreme violence and injustice are
part of daily life and where children constantly experience aggressive
behaviors.

If there is not a good, positive and collaborative atmosphere in the CFS/E

center, it will be very difficult to implement peace and reconciliation
activities with the children. Also peace and reconciliation education loses
its meaning if corporal and emotional punishment and bullying behaviors
are tolerated and practiced.

YOUR ROLE is to provide a learning environment in which children can

experience positive behaviors and learn to deal with conflicts positively.

Peace and Reconciliation Activity One: Positive Conflict Resolution

Age group: 3 to 4 years; and 5 to 6 years

Materials: Fingers and hand puppets—or alternatively, white pad sheets
and colors, if you prefer to use drawings instead of puppets; the blue
sorting-shape toy contained in the ECD Kit.
Preparation: Adapt the following story to your context. You may want
to refer to a situation that actually occurred in the CFSpace/E or in your
class. You can use different names and also different animals or different
characters. In case you do not feel comfortable using animal puppets for
religious or cultural reasons, you can use drawings instead—or any other
object. There are a total of 5 characters (people) in the story, as follows:
1. The teacher (adult figure) – you
2. Rose (female character) – 1 of the children
NOTE   Remember that the 3. Jimmy (male character) – 1 of the children
purpose of this story is to 4. Henry (male character) – 1 of the children
encourage children to find
positive solutions to the 5. Joanna (female character) – 1 of the children
conflict situations that they may
experience.
Arrange the children in a circle, so that they can all see you.

Read and play: PART A: Rose the rabbit and Jimmy the frog are 2 friends
attending the Early Childhood Center. One day Ms. Bear the teacher
brings a new toy to play with: a beautiful blue box with many different
colorful shapes and objects called the shape-sorter.
NOTE   If the bear puppet is not Action: Holding the bear puppet, bring the shape-sorter box with the
available use another one instead. shapes to the middle of the circle where the children are seated. Make
it fun, and talk about the different pieces of the box, and engage the
children’s attention.

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Read and play: PART B: As soon as Ms. Bear the teacher puts the shape-
sorter box on the floor in the middle of the circle of children, Rose the
rabbit and Jimmy the frog run to get the blue shape-sorter box, wanting
to play with it immediately.
Action: Ask the children holding the Rose the rabbit and Jimmy the frog
puppets to repeat the scene and run for the shape-sorter. With younger
children, you may need to help them.
Read and play: PART C: Rose the rabbit and Jimmy the frog both want
the blue shape-sorter box and start to scream while grabbing at the box.
The noise is unbearable. Jimmy the frog pushes Rose the rabbit, who
pushes Jimmy the frog back. Both children want the box and it seems
that there is no solution to their fighting.
Action: Ask the children to dramatize the scene and start pretend fighting.
Read and play: PART D: Henry the dog and Joanna the mouse go to help
Jimmy the frog and Rose the rabbit, and give them suggestions on how
to solve their disagreement.
NOTE   Children should come Action: Ask the children holding the Henry the dog and Joanna the
up with their own solutions and mouse puppets to give suggestions on how to solve the disagreement
make up their own dialogues
and find a solution.

YOUR ROLE is to ask the children: What does Henry the dog say? What
does Joanna the mouse say? Who should play with the blue shape-
sorter? Allow all of the children to give suggestions and have their say in
the story. What should Jimmy the frog and Rose the rabbit do?

Message to convey to the children: Fighting is not a good solution,

because you will end up playing alone, losing your friends and not having
fun. It will also cause a lot of unhappiness for you and the people around
you.

ALTERNATIVE: With younger children you can simply act the story using
the finger puppets contained in the ECD Kit, and involve the children at
the end of the story by asking them to find solutions to the fighting.

Peace and Reconciliation Activity Two: Cooperation Game

UNIT FOUR

Age group: 3 to 4 years; and 5 to 6 years

Materials: A piece of colored cloth material or a handkerchief.
Preparation: Separate the children into 2 groups/teams (a maximum of
10 children per group, 5 if very young children). Line up the children into
2 columns: 1 column on your right and 1 column on your left. You must
face the 2 lines. Give the same number (or color) to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.
child in each of the 2 lines.

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FIGURE 3: THE COOPERATION GAME PLAYING FIELD

NOTE   With very young children,
you may need to call the name
of the players. For example:
“Number one, Lea and Pablo”.

1 1

2 2

3 3

= position of the handkerchief holder

1, 2, 3 etc... = position of the team players

M = middle line

Play: Hold the piece of colored material in the middle, at a level where
the children can easily reach it. The children of each team cannot step
over the middle line. The goal of the game is to grab the piece of material
and run back to the position in line without being touched by the other
player. The team that scores more points wins.

Message to convey to the children: The success of a team depends on

the cooperation of all players.

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