How much do your children know about how other kids their age live in different counties? I am going to admit that my boys are somewhat sheltered when it comes to poverty and the rest of the world. I am also going to admit that it is my fault that this has happened, that I have protected them from a lot of the things in the news. But now they are nine and ten, I feel that they are old enough to learn more about the world and the people in it.
So how do I do that without giving them nightmares? Because the world often gives me nightmares! One way that I am doing that is with the help of Save the Children and the Save the Children Club. The club gives children the chance to explore the world through discovering what life is like for children of a similar age living across the world.
The team at Save the Children Club say “the Club allows children to have a space to celebrate things in their lives that are the same, whilst starting to understand what makes their lives different, from children in other parts of the world”.
In our first regular activity pack we learned about Gerald, who is nine years old (the same as Mini) and from an island on the Philippines.
So what is inside the pack?
- We get to meet Gerald
- Cook a Filipino dish
- Build a house of stilts
- Discover the Philippines
- Lip Flop Fun
- Fly a kite
- Gerald’s school
- About typhoons
- Make you own boat
- How Save the Children helped Gerald
You also get an initial welcome pack that includes a world map, badge and stickers and three activity packs throughout the year. In addition to access to the Save the Children Club website, where new activities will be added every month.
To join, an adult signs up for a monthly donation of £7.50. Donations will directly support Save the Children’s work around the world.
Mini really enjoyed the activity pack, he loved learning some words in Waray and also the time difference between the UK and Philippines. He learned that Gerald has 10 brothers and sisters and what is Mum and Dad do.
The online website really brings the pack to life, you get to meet Gerald in a video and learn about his village. In today’s digital age is is a really great companion to the booklet. It also is a great way of checking the learning with the online quiz. It is a really engaging pack. We made the passport from the website so we could record which counties we had learned about.
We recently watched Millennium Children on BBC the other night. It was a MUST watch program and we were really disappointed that it was shown at 10.35 at night. It is a remarkable documentary about the children that have been born since the Millennium. It talks about the Millennium development goals from 2000 when 180 world leaders agreed on a series of ambitious targets to improve the lives of people everywhere. In this powerful film the kids show us, from their perspectives, whether older generations have lived up the promises made back at the turn of the millennium.
I love that the Save the Children Club will be a great companion to Millennium Children and we plan to watch it as a family. To introduce discussion with the boys on how other children live throughout the world.
We think that the Save the Children Club makes a great gift, especially as Christmas is coming. It is a really ethical gift for the child that has everything. It is a way to donate to charity every month with added value for your child.
Disclosure: I received a free sample of the Save the Children Club for this review, in addition to book tokens. I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity
I like this idea although I have a 10 year old who gets so concerned about other people struggles that he tends to upset himself so I’m not sure it would be right for him. Perfect for my 13 year old though I think and just what she could do with learning!
My kids are definitely sheltered when it comes to knowing about poverty etc. My eldest is only 4 though and she worries about anything upsetting. We do regularly go through toys, clothes and other items and choose to give lots of them to children who don’t have as many toys, donating them to those in need. The kids love to help others and I think that is an important thing to teach them. The club packs look brilliant.
This sounds like a fantastic way of introducing children to the amazing charity work Save the Children do. Our children really do have so much compared to others and it is important to teach them to be grateful for that and want to help others. x
Ooh we were involved in the prototype of this, how great to see it finally come to fruition. The pack looks brilliant and like it’s achieved all it’s aims. It’s a fab idea.
It’s a lovely idea to get children involved with a charity in a fun way.
What a great sounding gift (for yourself or someone else) I can imagine it will be great for those in receipt of the support. x
A great idea and positive way of teaching children about different cultures whilst benefiting the charity too. This would be good for our home ed group.
Ohh this is a really good idea. Kids supporting kids. My kids write to our sponsored children and that really helps them uderstand. Mich x
I love this, what a brilliant idea. My six year old is always trying to think of ways to make a difference in other people’s lives so this would be perfect.
aww Jen this is lovely and certainly something i would look into getting this for Joshua when he was older
This looks great. You t to teach your children about people in other countries and you are donating to charity, its a win win situation
What a lovely idea and a great introduction to other ways of life and helping at the same time
It’s definitely good for children to learn what life is like in other parts of the world. I currently sponsor a child in Haiti with Plan UK and I involve my kids in writing letters and cards to him and hearing about the differences between their lives and his. I hope it makes them appreciate what they have.