St Laurence’s kids enjoy a day out in the sun
The kids had the opportunity to connect with some friendly horses and enhance their creativity at the EARTH Centre.
The St Laurence’s Children’s Haven children enjoyed a day of hot chocolate, horses and art at the EARTH Centre on Tuesday, June 28.
“This year, we wanted to celebrate Youth Day by doing something special for children in our area whom we believed would benefit from a day at EARTH. We chose to spend it with St. Laurence’s Children’s Haven – a place of safety in Roodepoort for children who come from broken and struggling families. Many of the children at the haven have been abused or abandoned, so The EARTH Centre seemed like the perfect fit to give them a fun day whilst also providing them with the therapeutic benefits that our equine colleagues so graciously provide,” explains Megan Gouws from the EARTH Centre.
The day started off with hot chocolate and introductions, followed by a grooming session with the horses. Grooming is associated with stress relief thought processing and bonding. The children were then divided into two groups. Group A went for a therapeutic riding lesson with instructors Chantelle and Adrian, whilst Group B enjoyed the playground and sensory bowl, which is a bird bath filled with precious stones and water, and is a joy to the senses. The riding lesson included core exercises, an outride through the veld and a stroll through the sensory trail, complete with a pool noodle forest and aromatic flowers. Group A and B then swapped.
“We then had a lunch break, and Mc Donald’s Retail Crossing provided Happy Meals for the children. After lunch we had a yoga session with Sindi from Om Art during which the children got their blood flowing and bodies moving on the field, where we noticed the beautiful pair of black eagles from the Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden flying overhead.”
This was followed by art therapy, and the children made beautiful artworks of their own.
“A big thank you to Greenlist Art Gallery, NM Art Gallery and Mzansi Art Gallery for sponsoring the yoga and art therapy. Without their contributions we couldn’t have added this thoroughly enjoyed activity to the itinerary,” concluded Megan.
The children were sent home with party packs and cupcakes provided by staff and volunteers, and all in all everyone had an amazing day!
