The Maltese Relief Service has launched a Mobile Play Space project to provide psychosocial support to children in an entertaining way. Three specialized teams in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions travel on special buses filled with game and sports equipment. Each team consists of psychologists, animators, and art therapists who organize so-called “smart entertainment.” In this way, they help children cope with the psychological trauma caused by the war, as well as facilitate the process of integration of displaced children in new communities. The plan is to involve 8000 children in the project.
The main goal of the mobile play space is to relieve children’s emotional stress and to integrate displaced children in a new place. To date, 2566 children have already participated in the mobile play space. Our specialists regularly visit children in schools, kindergartens, orphanages, shelters, hospitals, and children with disabilities in the three regions.
The team of the mobile play space consists of psychologists, animators, and art therapists who organize the so-called “smart entertainment” for children. “The children’s play space was created to help children get the usual rituals they had before the full-scale invasion. And also to help create a place for development, joy and carefreeness, which children need to experience in order to form a sense of trust in the world. A child develops physically, cognitively and mentally to the greatest extent through play, so we have a fairly wide range of activities for different ages and needs: sports, music, entertainment, art, handicrafts, games, sensory development and many other interesting equipment in our bus,” explains Olena Romanova, a psychologist at the Maltese Relief Service in Lviv.
During one trip, up to 100 children of different ages take part in “smart entertainment”. The event last about 2 hours. A number of visits have already taken place and the children’s favorites are aqua makeup, coloring eco-bags and various sports activities. “The children enjoy live communication, the opportunity to do something with their own hands in a relaxed atmosphere, and atypical materials for workshops and master classes, such as clay, wooden musical instruments, or textile paints,” says Marta Brynzei, project coordinator in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
The teams travel to shelters, schools, kindergartens, and orphanages on game buses filled with special entertainment equipment. “Mostly, we go to schools, kindergartens, and other institutions where there are local children and internally displaced persons. We want to help children work through the problems caused by their traumatic experiences,” says Tyunde Hnatyk, the project coordinator in Zakarpattia Oblast.
The project is implemented by the Maltese Relief Service in cooperation with international partners. In particular, with the support of Malteser International, Malteser in Deutschland, Malteser Austria, Johanniter International Assistance, Johanniter Orders in Germany, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V., Johanniter Nederland, Johanniterhjälpen Sverige, Swiss Johanniter Relief Service, St John International, Aktion Deutschland Hilft.
