Actividades: Semana Ocho

Actividades para mejorar trabajo de equipo

Palo helio

Pone un palo largo en los dedos índices de 5-10 niños. La única instrucción es que ellos tienen que bajar el palo al suelo con los dedos tocando el palo todo del tiempo. En la verdad, el palo va a levantar. Los niños necesitan trabajar juntos hasta el palo es en el suelo.

Nudo de humanos y cuerda

Tres cuerdas de un metro y media están dando a equipos de cuatro personas. Los equipos forman una configuración como persona-cuerda-persona-cuerda-persona-cuerda-persona. Ellos tienen que considerar si mismos una cuerda grande y completa. Siguiente, los equipos tienen que hacer un nudo en la sección centra de la cuerda sin sueltan sus manos de la cuerda. Este es un tarea muy difícil y puede tomar mucho tiempo. Vamos a animar mucha mucha paciencia y asignar lideres para dar estimulo y ideas.

Campo de minas

Equipos de dos personas deben que trabajar juntos para que guiar una para atravesar un campo de "minas" que en la verdad esta conos dispersados por la cancha. El miembro de que va a pasar esta con los ojos vendados y tiene que depender en las instrucciones de su compañero para pasar sin incidentes. Si una toca una mina esta persona tiene que reempezar. Cuando esta persona esta en la otro lado sin contratiempos los miembros cambian las posiciones. Antes de empezar los miembros tienen que hablar sobre como ellos van a comunicar en este juego para dos o tres minutos.

Activities: Week Eight

Team Building Activities

Helium stick

A long stick is place on the index fingers of 5-10 children. The only instruction is that they have to put move the stick to the ground without anyone removing their index finger from the stick. The stick will move upward instead of downward. The kids must then continue until they can work as a team to put the stick on the ground.

Human Overhand

Three four-foot lengths of rope are handed out to teams of four. The team then forms a configuration of person-rope-person-rope-person-rope-person. They are to consider themselves as one long length of rope. The teams are then asked to tie an overhand knot in the middle rope without anyone letting go. This is a very challenging activity and will require a lot of patience and critical thinking by the children.

Minefield

Two-person teams must work together to get one of the participants across a minefield (cones set out randomly in a small space). The team member crossing the field is blindfolded and must rely on the instructions of his or her partner to get across safely. If the walker hits a mine he or she must start over. Once the walker is safely across the team members switch roles. This is a good exercise of communication, teamwork, and trust.

Week Seven Review

We have been incredible lucky and blessed with the weather (knock on wood!!!!!). It always seems to rain on Mondays and Wednesdays during the afternoon but miraculously we get rain only in the mornings of Tuesdays and Thursdays! We hope that whatever forces may be that seem to be favoring us continue to do so!

This week's activities were full-on. Full-on energy, full-on competition, full-on confusion, and full-on fun. These extremely alternative Olympic games were very well received by the children and it was a great sight to see all participating, big and small.

An important evolution that has occurred is that our age-group has extended from 9-12 to 3-13. We are pleased to welcome all of these age-groups and feel like we are reaching them all, though at times this adds more challenges. Still, we seek to incorporate everyone and facilitate thought and growth in each dynamic individual at his or her own level.

We like to send a big thanks to our volunteers this week!
Tuesday: Mark (England), Rachel (U.S.), Nelly (Guápulo)
Thursday: Mark (England), Nelly & Anita (Guápulo), Julie (Denmark)

Also, a special thanks to a couple of our previous volunteers who were there in spirit after "donating" their shoes for one of the competitions. Thanks Caroline and Guillermo (France)!!!

Actividades: Semana Siete

¡Los Juegos Olímpicos!

Vamos a dividir los niños en 4 diferentes países; Japón, Egipto, Italia y India. Cada grupo va a recibir una bandera de sus países y una cosa típica de este país.

Después, cuando los grupos están listos ellos van a marchar en la cancha y un comité va a acogerlos, por supuesto está cogiendo la antorcha de Olímpico. El comité va a explicar las reglas y los diferentes juegos hoy en Los Juegos Olímpicos en Guápulo.

Los niños van a competir en estas disciplinas:

Carrera de globos en platos; tirar de la cuerda; carrera de saltar en grandes bolsas; quien pueden comer lo más grande cantidad de galletas en dos minutos; carrera de traer huevos en cucharas; memorar 10 cosas que los grupos pueden ver de 30 segundos y después vamos a cubrirlos; carrera donde los participantes necesitan poner extra ropa cuando es de turno de él o ella a correr; el grupo puede recoger más basura en 3 minutos; carrera de transportación de agua a un lugar a otro; el grupo puede arrojar una bota de agua lo más grande distancia.

Un juez va a controlar los puntos de cada grupo durante las competencias para buscar los triunfantes de Juegos de Olímpicos. Las medallas especiales concederían en el final de este evento.

Activities: Week Seven

The Olympic Games!

The children will be divided into 4 different countries; Japan, Egypt, Italy and India. Each group will have the flag of the country and something else that symbolizes their nationality.

After the groups are made they are going to march in to the field in their groups and they will be welcomed by a committee, of course holding the burning Olympic torch, who explains the rules and so on for the Olympic Games this year in Guápulo!

The children will then compete in the different disciplines below:

Race with a balloon on a plate; pull rope (tug-of-war); race jumping in big bags; who can eat the largest amount of very dry biscuits in two minutes; race with egg on a spoon; memorize 10 things that will be uncovered for 30 seconds and covered again with a blanket; relay-race where the running participant needs to wear an extra set of clothes and pass it to the next runner; who can collect the biggest amount of garbage in 3 minutes; race transporting water from one end to another; who can throw a rubber boot the longest distance.

A judge will be keeping the score during the competitions, so we can find the winning country when the games are over. Naturally medals will be awarded to the teams in the closing of this event!

Week Six Review

Energy all over the place this week - the children gave it all they had in this week's activities!

We were really excited to see how well they received all the different games that both Gretchen and I know from our childhood. Some of the games were meant as an opportunity to burn off energy and others demanded hardcore teamwork! It is a pleasure to see how the children of Equipo Verde work together and give room for everybody no matter age, background and gender.

This week has been an awesome exchange of good energy!


This week Equipo Verde will like to thank the volunteers on:
Tuesday: Julie (Denmark), Mark (England), Anita (Guápulo)
Thursday: Julie (Denmark), Mark (England), Rachel (U.S.A.), Anca (U.S.A.), Anita (Guápulo)
Administration: Che (Argentina), Cecibel (Ecuador)

El texto para las pinturas en el hospital "Baca Ortiz"!

Estas pinturas son un regalo de los niños de la comunidad de Guápulo que están participando en un programa de protección del medio ambiente organizado por "Equipo Verde".

Las pinturas representan lo que podría suceder si la humanidad dormiría durante 100 años. Este es un ejercicio que hace reflexionar sobre cómo afectan las costumbres de la humanidad a la naturaleza y al medio ambiente.

¡Los niños de Guápulo les envían muchos saludos a los niños del hospital Baca Ortiz!

The paintings, the children of Equipo Verde have painted, that will be displayed in a children's hospital in Quito!

Equipo Verde will like to thank Marten Sims from England, who took pictures of the four-meter-long paintings in parts and gathered it all, so it is now possible for everyone to see the paintings close up!

Actividades: Semana Seis

Tarjetas abajo del cono

Vamos a poner 13 conos en la cancha de fútbol. Debajo de cada uno están cuatro tarjetas (una de cada símbolo). Hay cuatro equipos (uno de cada símbolo). La tarea de cada equipo es recoger todas las tarjetas en su símbolo, desde la tarjeta numero dos hasta de tarjeta el as, por orden cronológico. Las personas de los equipos van a sucederse en la cancha, cada vez que él o ella hicieron una inspección de las tarjetas abajo del cono. El participante que revisa la tarjeta debajo del cono, debe recordar que tarjeta es y compartirlo con sus compañeros de equipo. Tal vez ellos no necesitan la tarjeta que vieron en este momento, pero es muy importante recordarlo, pues en otro momento la necesitaran. Si la tarjeta bajo el cono es lo que buscan (número dos por ejemplo), el equipo puede recoger la tarjeta y traerlo a su equipo. El primer equipo que recoja todas las 13 tarjetas, va a ganar.

Gigantes, Magos y Ángeles

Este juego es muy parecido a “pierda, papel y tijera”. Gigante (brazos arriba, rugido) gana al angel (agitar los brazos como alas); el angel angel supera al mago (agitar los manos y va a decir “kazaam”); el mago gana al gigante.

Dar un golpe al bote

Una persona cuida el bote mientras los demás participantes se esconden al derredor. Quien cuida el bote debe contar hasta 30 con los ojos vendados para dar tiempo a los participantes de esconderse. Cuando la cuenta se acaba, quien cuida el bote debe salir a descubrir a quienes se escondieron, cuando encuentra a uno, debe correr hasta el bote y tocarlo, gritando “tal persona esta en el bote”, dejando a esa persona temporalmente fuera del juego. Pero también puede suceder que uno de los participantes corra hasta el bote sin que el cuidador se de cuenta y si llega hasta él antes que el cuidador puede gritar “yo estoy salvado” y salvarse a si mismo, o también puede gritar “todos están salvados” y con ello liberar a las otras personas que habían sido descubiertas. El cuidador del bote sólo cambiará cuando pueda descubrir y “poner en el bote” a todos los jugadores participantes. Si alguno de ellos logra liberar a sus compaæeros, el cuidador del bote necesita volver a contar para que los demás se escondan.

Todos a bordo

Un ejercicio clásico para construir un equipo fuerte. El juego consiste en que todo el equipo debe pararse al mismo tiempo sobre un pedazo de plástico extendido en el suelo. Todos los equipos tienen que poder lograrlo, pues quien no lo haga se quedará fuera del juego. Si todos los equipos lo han logrado, el plástico se doblará por la mitad y nuevamente todo el equipo debe caber dentro de él. Debe repetirse esta operación hasta que sólo quede un equipo que pueda caber dentro del plástico.

Activities: Week Six

Cone Tag

There are 13 cones placed randomly in a field. Under each one are four cards (one from each suit). There are four teams (one for each suit). The task for each team is to collect all of the cards, the Two through the Ace, in order. The teammates take turns running out into the field and checking under a cone. This gives them a chance to see what card is underneath that cone and report it back to the team. If the card under a cone happens to be the one they need (a Two, for example), the team picks it up and brings it back to the starting point. The first team to collect all 13 cards in order wins.

Giants, Wizards, and Elves

Fun chasing game with suspense, laughter and exercise. Giant (arms up, roars) beats elf (hands to ears); elf beats wizard (waves wand & "kazaam"); wizard zaps giant.

Kick-the-Can

The person who is it has a can sitting on the ground nearby. He/she must get everyone in the can. This is done by yelling, for example, ‘Mia behind the bush is in the can!’ then Mia is trapped. But if someone else gets the chance, he/she can run over and kick the can, setting everyone free and the game starts again.

All Aboard

A classic teambuilding activity in which a group is challenged to physically support one another in an endeavor to occupy an ever diminishing space.

Week five review!

Bread over fire was a very popular activity among the children. We had around 25 children on Tuesday and Thursday we reached around 40 children, so the word spread fast!

We were incredibly lucky with the weather this week, the sun was almost shining from a cloudless blue sky, which was a very important factor in our activity becoming as successful as it was.

Our volunteer Julie, who has been a scout in her earlier years, made the perfect bonfire for the bread we were cooked on sticks over the fire.
Before we started baking the bread we talked with the children about how to bake them and how the bread bakes better over the ember and not directly in the flames. But it still took some practice before the bread was moved out from the flames and over the embers instead. Therefore, the second bread they made, with its golden brown color, indicated very clearly that they learned how to use the bonfire in the best possible way.
It was great to see the happiness in the children's faces after they accomplished the task of making their own bread and several children expressed that it was some of the best bread they have ever tasted.

This Thursday the French/Ecuadorian freelance photographer Natalie Ayala joined us on Equipo Verde. We have been in contact with her for a long time and she has been very interested in covering the project. At the moment she working on a project where she creates a debate about the contamination of petroleum in the Amazon through the pictures she has been taking the past year. We are very honored to have her come by our project and cover it!

From week five we will like to thank our volunteers:
Tuesday: Julie (Denmark) and Armando (Ecuador).
Thursday: Julie (Denmark), Señora Anita (citizen from Guápulo) and Natalie (French/Ecuador).

The Equipo Verde paintings will be displayed in a children's hospital in Quito!

The children of Equipo Verde painted two large paintings this past week over the theme; "What would the world look like if we all slept for a hundred years". These paintings turned out amazingly beautiful, creative and very colourful.
After Sunday's event, where we displayed the paintings in Guápulo, it was time to find a permanent home for the paintings. So, after considering different options, we decided to approach the director of the children's hospital, Baca Ortiz, with the proposition of displaying the paintings on the walls of the hospital. Director Dr. Milton was very positive to the suggestion and immediately asked to see the paintings. We agreed to bring the paintings to the hospital next week and we feel very confident that we have found a nice and secure home for them.

We thank and congratulate the children of Equipo Verde for their beautiful art, which now will serve to brighten the minds of the children in the Baca Ortiz Hospital.

Testimony from a volunteer - Marten Sims

Anyway I have been in Quito for just over three weeks now, learning Spanish (es mucho major ahora, atras, ha ha ha: super mal, pero yo abla con toda chaufers adentro taxis’, supermarcados y la calle, tambien, yo abla un poquito con mi nuevo amigos de Equipo Verde y ellos casa: ‘Cultura Commun’ en Guapulo – es una pobre, pero muy bonita logal en del este Quito – es una muy bein casa! Enscribir en Español es mucho mas dificil que ablar!!!), hanging out with the people mentioned above, but to name them (in case they read this and think I wasn’t joking yesterday night about just mentioning their country origin). Firstly I have to thank Mia and Gretchen for allowing me to join the Equipo Verde team for three weeks, we have had a massive amount of fun, playing games, painting masks, making the murial. These two people are very special, starting the project from scratch themselves inspite of several problems, but they did it because they just couldn’t find a volunteering project that was either either managed to their liking, or free. It reminds me of the classic phrase that people say when they are watching some world issues on television: “What can I do?” Well, you can start by getting up from the sofa for starters, finding a project that fixes what you just saw (whether it be local or elsewhere), committing to it and doing it. Mia and Gretchen just came out here and did it, and they are joined by a team of great volunteers, helpers, friends and often different new-commers each week (like myself), volunteers who come along for one or two sessions to not only give up some of their own time for people who need it, but also to visit an area of town that contrasts quit starkly with the central areas of Quito that are more developed, not in danger of mudslides during torrential weather (which you can see happen during one of the days we were mask-painting). It makes me wonder more and more about my own possibilities for starting something, using my skills, perhaps as a designer, perhaps as something else.

Actividades: Semana Cinco

Preparando un pan sobre una fogata

Vamos a cavar un hueco en el pasto cerca de la cancha de fútbol para una fogata, y también vamos a guardar los trozos de hierba para restaurar el pasto cuando terminamos. Con la supervisión de los voluntarios, los niños van a construir dos fogatas y preparar sus palos para cocinar sus propios panes sobre la fogata. Van a hacer la masa en forma de una culebra o a una salchicha, y la van a estirarse sobre el palo. Este ejercicio requiere mucha paciencia, porque no es posible que los niños saquen el pan hasta que este listo.

Corre que te pillo, estilo cadena

Para empezar, hay una persona que es “la única”. Cuando él o ella toca a alguien, ellos dos se hacen un grupo de dos—“los únicos”. Eso continua hasta que haya cuatro personas, y ese grupo se divide en dos grupos. Entonces hay dos grupos “únicos” de dos. Esto continúa hasta que todos estén en parejas de “únicos”.

Corre que te pillo, estilo círculo

Hay dos círculos de niños, y una persona es “la única”, y una persona se persigue. La persona quien se persigue puede optar por tomar el lugar de cualquier persona en los dos círculos y estar “segura”. Cuando la persona perseguida escoge un lugar en un círculo, esa persona en el círculo opuesto tiene que salir y la persona en el lugar escogido toma el lugar de esa persona.

Activities: Week Five

Baking Bread over a Bonfire

We will dig a hole in the grass field near the soccer field for a bonfire, but we will also keep the grass patches to restore the field after use. Under the supervision of volunteers, the children will build two bonfires and prepare their sticks to bake their own bread over the fire. They will roll the dough into a snake or a sausage and wrap it around the stick. This exercise demands patience, as the children cannot remove their bread until it is fully baked.

Chain-Tag

To begin, one person is “it”. When he/she tags someone, they become a two-person ‘it’ unit. This continues until there are four people, and then the unit splits into two. Then there are two ‘it’ units of two. This continues until everyone is in pairs of ‘its’.

Double Circle Tag

There are two circles of kids, one person is “it”, and one person is chased. The person who is chased can choose to take the place of anyone in either circle and be safe. When the chased person picks a spot in a circle, the person in the opposite circle must leave and the person in the spot taken moves over to take that person’s place.

Sunday Art Exposition!

We woke up Sunday and the sun was shining, and there was no doubt that this was going to be a beautiful day in Guápulo.

At one o'clock, five Equipo Verde volunteers--Mia, Julie, Marielle, Marten and Ryan--headed towards the central community square in Guápulo. There was already a lot of people in the square, enjoying their Sunday. People were eating at the local food stands, children were playing, and everyone was watching as we set up our two four-meter-long murals and sixty masks.

We hung the paintings between the light poles on the square, just at the right height so that the children could see and explain their work to their families. Marten, our graphic designer, made sure that the masks were presented at their best--in the shape of a giant mask.

We gave out strawberries covered in chocolate, much to the children's delight. During the hour that we were there, we had a lot of great conversations with the children as well as parents. It was also a great opportunity to spread the word about Equipo Verde for families that hadn't known about it.

The children's art created a lot of attention and great energy, and we are all proud of what Equipo Verde has become. The sun wasn't the only thing shining this Sunday. Our children were as well.

Week four review!

This was the week where the children really could add some color to the world. We painted masks and two four-meter-long paintings -- it was great!

On both Tuesday and Thursday, we started with an environmental talk about what would happen to the world if we all slept for a hundred years. That conversation led to an interesting debate, especially because several children thought that the world was unable to survive without humans??

We also had a talk about colors and how to mix the paint to get different colors.

But finally, then it was time to put all of our thoughts down on the four-meter-long canvas. And the children just went for it! One of the children painted an airplane, which led to a very interesting discussion between the children themselves, because some of them brought up the point that it was impossible for an airplane to fly when everybody was sleeping. They ended up painting a tree underneath it, so it looked like a crashed airplane.

Equipo Verde would like to thank the volunteers on:

Tuesday: Julie (Denmark), Marten (England), Ryan (U.S.A.), Luis (Ecuador), Armando (Ecuador).

And Thursday: Julie (Denmark), Marten (England), Riann (Canada), Ryan (U.S.A.)

¡Este domingo, el 8 de junio! ¡Una exposición de arte!

¡Bienvenidos a toda la comunidad guapuleña! Se presentarán las obras de arte de los niños de Equipo Verde este domingo, en la parada de buses enfrente de la estación policiaca.

Estas dos semanas pasadas, los niños de Equipo Verde han trabajo muy duro en sus proyectos. Ahora quisieran compartirlos y le invita a la comunidad de Guápulo a su magnificente exposición de arte. Con tema de la creatividad de la juventud y el medio ambiente, los niños construyeron aproximadamente 60 máscaras hechas de material ¡completamente reciclado! Y pintaron un mural pensando en cómo se cambiaría el mundo en 100 años si todos se durmieran.

Aparte de este increíble festín por los ojos, también tendremos algo para la boca.

El evento empezará a las 2 y terminará (más o menos) a las 3.

¡Saludos de Gretchen, Mia y los voluntarios de Equipo Verde!

Abajo es la noticia que vamos a dar a nuestras vicinos y los niños.

Actividades: Semana Cuatro

Cual Va a Pasar si todas personas en el mundo duermen para 100 años

Vamos a pedir que los niños piensen de cual va a pasar si todas personas en el mundo duermen para 100 años. Qué los animales y plantas harían? Es el mundo mejor? Cual cosas humanas quedarían? Cual cosas degradarían? Cual cosas se harían orgánicas? Cual cosas no podría cambiar? Cual cosas no serían absorbidos por la naturaleza? Después de pensar sobre este tema vamos a pintar nuestras ideas y hablar de cual nos enfrentamos cuales dilemas.

Decoraciones de las Máscaras

Vamos a pintar nuestra máscara al mismo tiempo de pintando el cuadro de los 100 años.

Materiales: Pintura, pinceles, lienza gigante, las máscaras

Activities: Week Four

What if we slept for 100 years?

Art activity- Ask the kids to imagine what the world would look like after 100 years if during that time everybody on earth was asleep. What would the plants and animals do? Have the kids draw what this world would look like and then talk about the pictures. Is the world better? Link this to sustainable practices.

Mask Decoration
While the 100 years painting is being created we will also have space and paint available for decorating the masks from last week.

Materials: Paint, paint brushes, giant roll of paper, masks

Week Three Review

This week we met in the school after working out an agreement with the director and the groundskeepers. There, we made masks using recycled materials. We were thoroughly impressed with the creations of the children and how resourceful they were using the limited supplies. They worked so enthusiastically that some of them managed to make two masks in two hours. Several of them had a hard time letting go of the masks and wanted to take them home but in order to keep them safe we arranged a storage location for them in the school where they are now drying getting ready for their soon to be applied coats of paint.

We also had some great volunteers come this week. From Tuesday we'd like to thank Marten (England) and Julie (Denmark) and from Thursday we'd like to thank Marten and Julie (what troopers) as well as Ivan (Ecuador), Xavier (Ecuador), and Luis (Ecuador) for their contributions of time and energy to Equipo Verde. You guys are awesome!!!