Children’s Centers for Creative Activities of Troizinia and Methana
Children’s Centers for Creative Activities (KDAP) promote children’s right to rest and to creative and constructive activities in their free time. Katheti promotes the Children’s Centers for Creative Activities of Troizinia and Methana because they are important pillars of support for the family, especially in rural areas. They offer appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic and recreational activities to children aged 5 to 12 years old.
KDAP’s goals
The Children’s Centers for Creative Activities of Troizinia and Methana offer creative activities with modern pedagogical practices in a pleasant and hospitable educational environment.
They provide stimuli and motivation to children to familiarize themselves with forms of expression and communication such as play, singing, painting, music, dance, sports, arts and discussion.
Therefore, they contribute significantly to their physical, mental, emotional and social development. They also sensitize and inform parents on issues of modern pedagogy and psychology, offering them information and guidance.
Methana KDAP
The Methana KDAP has been recently established, it started to operate in October 2021. It keeps children occupied with daily activities, but still has no actions to present, especially due to Covid restrictions.
Athanasia Sachini, the KDAP’s head, tells us: “It is both an unprecedented and exciting experience. Because this is a group of children with different personalities, the challenge is to find out the character and peculiarities of each child, in order to integrate them into the activities that interest them.”
Troizinia KDAP
The Troizinia KDAP has been operating for over a decade and has many actions to its credit. The KDAP’s head Yiannis Papachatzis states: “The educator, as a team member, is in essence the animator in the whole process, giving the children the tools and ideas needed for acquiring knowledge and social skills. When you work as an educator in a KDAP, in any specialty, you realize that the “teacher-students” model, as we know it for so long, can practically evolve into a new pedagogical model, based on the dynamics of the team, on the acquisition of knowledge through experiential processes.”
Troizinia KDAP’s activities
Part of Troizinia KDAP’s daily activities are the thematic workshops of visual arts, pastry, sports, music and theater play.
Children create, among other things, Easter candles, cushions, woven items, carnival masks, hand dolls, sets and costumes for theater performances and items made of recyclable materials.
It is worth mentioning the construction of an open-air mosaic, “The KDAP’s ship”, from 100,000 plastic caps. No similar action with more caps has been recorded nationwide.
At the same time, children stay active through pleasant movement and coordination games. And of course there is no lack of nature excursions and walks.
In addition, they learn to play musical instruments, sing, write their own songs and create their own music videos. They stage theater performances and are inspired to create their own role-playing games.
They also plant flowers in the communal flower beds, decorate Galatas Christmas tree with their own ornaments and participate in activities together with Poros KDAP.
Their presence is noticeable in summer, Christmas, carnival and Easter events, often in collaboration with other bodies, such as the Special Vocational Training School of Galatas, the Association of Parents & Friends of People with Disabilities “Agios Kirikos” and the Cultural Association of Galatas “Friends of Tradition”.
They have taken part in Poros Arts Festival, in Saronia festival and in an ERT radio program. Responding to a call by the organization “The Smile of the Child”, they gathered food and basic necessities as a gesture of humanity and solidarity towards refugee children.
In addition to the activities, they attend a variety of educational programs on cultural, environmental and social issues, including visits to museums and local professionals.
Entertainment, socialization and knowledge
As we can see, the activities of the Children’s Centers for Creative Activities of Troizinia and Methana achieve a threefold purpose: They entertain and socialize children, while at the same time they offer useful knowledge about their future life as active and productive members of our society. This is the reason why Katheti includes the Children’s Centers for Creative Activities of Troizinia and Methana in a series of articles that feature the activities of cultural organizations such as the Cultural Action of Troizina, the Cultural Association of Galatas “Friends of Tradition”, the Association of Parents & Friends of People with Disabilities “Agios Kirikos”, the Cultural Association of Poros Women “Poriotissa”, the Association of Troizinians living in Athens and Piraeus and the Hatzopouleios Municipal Library of Poros.
