So what is Share + Care?
How to Share + Care this Christmas
Our packs contain FREE Advent Calendars and E.Y.F.S. curriculum based activity plans, materials and letters to parents - all printed and ready to go!
Behind every Calendar window, there's an illustration of a gift or toy for the children to identify - providing the theme for that days activity.
Each theme is based on a relevant issue designed to engage the children with values such as:
Sharing
'Why it's important to give' (and not just to receive)
and 'Why it's important to care', - particularly for those in need.
Parents can get involved form the start - but importantly have the opportunity to reinforce the lessons taught, by choosing a gift with their child. A simple donation of ₤5 then allows Auntie to allocate chosen gifts to vulnerable children in Africa.
- OK PLEASE REGISTER ME FOR A PACK -
More about what ‘Share + Care’ is...
It seems to us that for a long time now, society has become more and more selfish. As materialism and consumerism have taken hold, and ‘selfish capitalism’ has taken over, the sense of community that comes with ‘giving’ has been lost.
An important part of the development process for ‘early years’ children has always been to teach them to share (and this isn’t always an easy part of the process!), and it therefore seems to us that this is becoming even more important in today’s world. We love our children but they can be selfish, and the problem of selfish children and their demands for more and more worldly goods seems to grow worse all the time. ‘Share + Care’ is about reminding them that it’s more important to give – particularly to those who have nothing.
Children here often have no idea that there are children in other parts of the world that have nothing. The majority of children that Auntie supports have nothing. Through ‘Share + Care’ we aim to teach children about their circumstances, and Christmas seems like the ideal time to encourage them to give gifts to children that celebrate Christmas but that would otherwise not be receiving presents.
We have available 5000 ‘Share + Care’ advent calendars that we’ll supply free of charge along with sets of ‘daily lesson plans’ for the 2-3 and 3-5 age groups, that you can use every day during the month of December to work with your children on ‘giving’.
The opportunity
OUR TARGET IS TO INVOLVE 2500 SETTINGS IN THIS EVENT – more if possible, and we’ll be updating our website every week between now and the end of November with the number of settings registered. see our ‘totaliser’
If 2500 settings support us, then we believe that we’ll be able to raise well over £ ½ million - giving over 100,000 gifts to children in Africa who have nothing. These will go a particularly long way, as each gift will help to resource crèches in South African township communities that simply cannot afford them …meaning that literally hundreds of children will benefit from each gift … and as each gift is sourced locally (in South Africa), we can buy fabulous items with your donation relative to the toys and gifts that can be bought here … and help to create more vital local jobs for young South Africans (many in Community Projects).
Importantly too, though, ‘Share + Care’ will also be teaching our children the importance of giving, and helping to create a generation for the future who are kinder and more generous than those of the past.
How it works
Each advent calendar has the usual 24 windows, to be opened each day in the run up to Christmas. Behind each window there’s a picture of a gift or toy - and the children have to decide together what it is. We supply ‘daily lesson plans’ to accompany each picture (one set for your 2-3 year olds, and one set for your 3-5s) with ideas and planning on how to structure the activity time with your children. They’re designed to explore ‘giving’, ‘presents or gifts’, ‘the problem with selfishness’, and issues around other cultures, children in other parts of the world - and diversity.
As part of the pack, we’ll also supply a letter that can be sent out to parents at the start of the project that introduces parents to the project and invites them to get involved. It would be nice if parents are able to talk about that days ‘gift’ with their children after nursery each day, and engage as a vital part of the learning with them.
In this letter we will then ask parents to decide with their child which of the ‘gifts’ they would like to choose to give to children in South Africa who have nothing – and ask them to ‘Share + Care’ – providing children with an opportunity to give that gift, asking the parent to donate £5 (+ Gift Aid), which all of the ‘gifts’ can be bought for locally in South Africa. Of course, if parents have other children, or would like to give more gifts, that would be marvelous too.
If you’re a ‘setting’, or work at a setting
If you run a setting, or work with children in a setting, then we’d love you to support us and ‘sign up’ for this important fundraising project. We hope that the quality of our ‘lesson plans’ means that your children will get a lot out of this idea, that parents will enjoy being involved, and that we save you a huge amount of planning time (so you get something out of it too).
We want to get as many settings and as many children involved as possible – so we’d really appreciate it if you know anyone working or with children at other settings if you’d let them know about it.
IMPORTANTLY, if you’re a setting running this project, we also need you to collect your parent’s donations and post a cheque (made out to Auntie) - with their Gift Aid slips (click here for a Gift Aid slip, alternatively there is one included in your pack as part of the letter to parents) - to us here at: Auntie, Elm Field House, Moreton, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 2HS.
If you’re a parent
Well, if you’re a parent and you like our project, then please let your nursery, crèche or playgroup know about it and ask them to get involved.
Order Calendar and Lesson Packs
You can order ‘advent calendar and lesson plan packs’ for your setting now – free of charge and on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. They’re available as a pack for 2-3 year olds and a pack for 3-5 year olds (so be careful to order the right ones and feel free to order 1 pack for each age group in your setting if you work with both age groups).
They’ll be posted to you in order to arrive during w/c 23rd November 2009 – giving you a few days to familiarize yourselves with the ‘lesson plans’.
And finally…
You’ll be able to follow the ‘Share + Care’ Project via our website during the coming months.
During October and November we’ll feature our TOTALISER on our home page… monitoring the number of settings that ‘sign up’ to participate.
In December we’ll feature feedback from settings on how it’s going – perhaps featuring feedback from some of our participating children.
And then in January and February we’ll let you know how much we’ve raised together, post photos (and perhaps videos) of the children receiving your gifts, and gather some stories from crèches and children - both here and in South Africa.
Please use the links below to: