When in a foreigner country and working as an international volunteer, the language barrier can be an initial challenge, but creatively it is possible to overcome it.

Here we will share a few suggestions of fun games and activities to play with the children:

1- Home made play-doh

Play dough is a fun, clay – like substance that kids love!

A good idea is to involve the children in an afternoon playing with home made play-doh. It´s very easy to make, so besides playing, they can help preparing it!

The only materials you will need are:

4 cups flour / 4 xícaras de farinha de trigo

1 ½ cup salt / 1 e 1/2 xícara de sal

1 cup water / 1 xícara de água

2 tablespoons of oil / 2 colheres de chá de óleo

Food dye (any color, be creative!) / Corante de alimentos (Good place to buy it in Curitiba: Casa do Confeiteiro, located at Av. Sete de Setembro, 1923 – Centro)

Newspaper to cover the surface you’re working on / Jornal para proteger a surpefície onde se está preparando a massinha.

It only takes about 10 minutes to make

Instructions

1. Pour water into a large mixing bowl.
2. Next add food coloring.
3. Add the dry ingredients ( flour and salt) to the mix.
4. Next add 2 to 4 tablespoons of oil.
5. This next step is a big hit with kids!
6. Knead the ingredients together until a soft dough is formed.
7. After use store in plastic bag or tightly covered glass.

2- Baking day

Another idea to entertain children is by baking cookies! You can engage them in the process of decorating it with colorful icing! Why not teach them a typical recipe from your country? Kids have a fascination for cookies by nature, we all know that!

3- Vivo-Morto / Alive-Dead

Vivo Morto is a popular game in Brazil, and very simple one.

One of the participants is chosen as leader and will head the group. He will give the instructions that must be followed by the other players.

When the leader says: “Morto” (dead), everyone will be crouching. When the leader says: “Vivo” (alive), everyone will make a little jump and stay up. Who does not fulfill the orders is eliminated until only one participant is left over. This will be the winner and next leader.

The game difficulty level varies according to the speed at which the commands are given, nothing that the sequence of orders can vary, for example: “Vivo! Vivo! Vivo! Morto! Morto! Morto! “. This will confuse the players and still require more attention from participants.

4- Buble fun

Playing with bubbles are one of the most popular ways to entertain children. They’re really cheap and the kids enjoy it a lot!

5- Make Life-size paper dolls and name the body parts

Draw a big life-sized doll and name the different body parts. This activity can take days. The children can help you color it and you can teach them how to write or speak the body name parts, according to their age. It´s a fun way to teach English basic vocabulary, such as mouth, ears, eyes, arms, feet, knees, toes…

6- Make paper planes and other types of origami

The ancient Japanese art of paper-folding easy to do and is also dead

cheap. Use recycling paper and build a fleet of paper airplanes or other types of origami. Boats, animals, there are several ideas available online. Origami.com  is a great place to start. Then you can play with it. Launch the airplanes from the window, or in the back garden. You could make different kinds and see which one flies the furthest.

7- Make a treasure hunt

OK, this requires some Portuguese knowledge to explain the rules. It will be necessary to write some clues and then hide some treats around the project for the children to find. By solving the clues they’ll get the prize!

8- Coloring Drawings

Select some drawings online that show typical things from your country. Animals, fruits, touristic sights, cartoons. Print it and let the kids color it. It will be a fun way to teach the some cultural aspects from your country.

9- Inventing shapes with tear paper

Tear up some magazines or other colorful paper and then do let the small fingers create different images through collage.

10- Art day

Let the kids paint and display their artwork. You can even select some art pieces for them to copy. Romero Britto is a famous Brazilian artist. His work is very colorful, which normally catches the attention of children. You can show them some pieces of artwork and encourage them to copy it.