Learning outdoors for children of the favelas

SINAL is located in Mata Atlantica, one of the hotspots for biodiversity. Mata Atlantica is also  one of the most endangered biomas of Brasil.  Only 7 % is left.  It is located on the coast and one of the most urbanized areas of Brazil.

One of the missions of SINAL  is to promote initiatives to restore the ecosystem.  SINAL for children educate them to  know about the Mata Atlantica, its fauna and flora. Children are encourage to walk through trails and learn about  the  names of birds, trees, pick fruits.  They also participate in activities to plant trees and prepare the nursary.

SINAL is a living laboratory where volunteers from all over the world share their love for nature and other abilities with local children who do not have access to those resources  One of the recurrent activities is tree planting and also collecting garbage.

Stimulating the expression of children with art is also one of the activities at SINAL.   Children are estimulated to be creative and to reuse garbage materials to create their own toys. This year to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, we will be organizing a gathering with children in which they will paint how they want to express our Earth taking from the experience at SINAL, which is surrounded by a reach nature. 

Links:

• video about sinal and its activities for children

Living so close to nature in the Atlantic Rainforest provides anyone who visits SINAL a deep appreciation and respect for nature. There is an abundance of trees, fruit, animals and plants that have infinite possibilities to help children create lasting connections to the natural world. SINAL has worked to create connections with nature by engaging children in projects that utilize the abundance of nature. 

Our final semester of the year had children experimenting with materials on the property such as bamboo, young fruit trees, and local produce such as mangos. Lessons were centered around local materials that are in abundance on the farm. For example a big part of Brazilian culture for children is building and flying your own kite. Thus a lesson was dedicated to learning about bamboo, how to sustainably collect the material, and then using the bamboo to build kites. Later during the mango season children were taught about the mango tree, how to collect mangos using local bambo fruit pickers, and making fresh and healthy juice out of them along with other fresh fruit produce on the farm. Furthermore children were given opportunities to learn about cultivating plants in our Childrens Garden. Concepts such as caring for plants, growing them from local seeds, and harvesting the vegetables were all demonstrated. 

SINAL looks forward to a happy and productive 2014 by building on our already successful program and showing children even more of the abundant nature that surrounds us. Thank you for all your donations and allowing our program to continue. 

Love from SINAL