"It is better to give than to receive."
I truly believe that.
I feel so giddy packing toys for Tesoros de Dios, the special needs school in Nicaragua. Their Amazon wish list is surprisingly simple. Even the most basic items are cherished.
Can you picture the faces of the children? The impact? When they see much of the wish list come to life? I'll let you in on the joy!
Picture an 8-year-old with spaghetti muscles. He has poor muscle control and is working hard in horse therapy to strengthen his core. These balls hoop will make his therapy more fun and effective!
Now we're inside the therapy room for children functioning at a very low level. The light is on but no one is home. Or they are trapped in their body and very much awake. Both are true in this room. A 12-year-old lays on a mat, able to sit up only when fully supported in the therapist's lap. They stack these rings together, hand-over-hand, naming colors, and stretching muscles.
We enter the classroom. There's one teacher for three children, practicing phonetics. She's teaching them to read and write, but they're getting bored with the same old materials. They want to make holiday cards for their families, but art supplies ran out a few months back...
A preschool age child is a few years behind on his pencil skills. His grasp is weak and clumsy. He's frustrated he can't hold a normal, skinny crayon. The finger crayons and egg-shaped crayons will help him make progress!
Balloons for class parties. Stickers for motivation. Connect 4 is a tool to teach many skills: turn taking, color differentiation, eye-hand coordination, etc... Modeling clay and kinetic sand are fun to play with, and useful for bilateral hand use, muscle activation, sensory input, imitation, and language development...
Can you feel the excitement? With less than 1 week before the trip, I want to say THANK YOU to all who have provided the funds to make this all possible! The children thank you too!
I truly believe that.
I feel so giddy packing toys for Tesoros de Dios, the special needs school in Nicaragua. Their Amazon wish list is surprisingly simple. Even the most basic items are cherished.
Can you picture the faces of the children? The impact? When they see much of the wish list come to life? I'll let you in on the joy!
We enter the classroom. There's one teacher for three children, practicing phonetics. She's teaching them to read and write, but they're getting bored with the same old materials. They want to make holiday cards for their families, but art supplies ran out a few months back... 
A preschool age child is a few years behind on his pencil skills. His grasp is weak and clumsy. He's frustrated he can't hold a normal, skinny crayon. The finger crayons and egg-shaped crayons will help him make progress!
Can you feel the excitement? With less than 1 week before the trip, I want to say THANK YOU to all who have provided the funds to make this all possible! The children thank you too!
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