In the afternoon hours there is a balance of cognitive, sensorial and recreational activities. These include:

Snoezelen

Snoezelen exposes the child to a soothing and stimulating environment. The snoezelen room is specially designed to deliver stimuli to various senses, using lighting effects, color, sounds, music, etc. The combination of different materials on a wall may be explored using tactile senses, and the floor may be adjusted to stimulate the sense of balance. Ideally, snoezelen is a non-directive therapy and can be staged to provide a multisensory experience or single sensory focus.

Music and Sound Beam

Music seems to be able to cross whatever physical limitation the children at Saint Vincent have to cope with. It refreshes and kindles enthusiasm; it can bring about a smile, a movement of the arm or leg, a voice or a laugh. It brings also a few moments of joy, solace and fulfillment.

Sound Beam is a ‘touch free’ device which uses sensor technology to translate body movement into music and sound. In education and therapy, this unique creative and expressive medium is widely recognized as ‘must-have’ technology.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is responsible about training and orienting children to perform basics of activities of daily living such as drinking and eating. Included are eye hand coordination tasks, educational and mental assessing and improving abilities.

Also our occupational therapy program includes a workshop for recycling paper and the creation of attractive cards. These are sold to visitors and the children sell them occasionally in the village to the passing pilgrims.

At least once a month we have a Coffee House, which is run by our kids. They love participating in this activity as waiters or cashiers (depending on which level they are on), because it gives them a feeling of worth – that they are able to accomplish a task. At the end of the activity, they each also choose what drink they would like. And from time to time with Sister Susan, the kids prepare a fruit salad or bake a cake.

Art Therapy and Illustrated Stories

Our Art teacher teaches art according to the needs and goals of each child. The Art therapy includes several stages of development of an art process. The first stage is to give the opportunity to the children of experiencing different types of textures. The second stage is placing the textures on a surface. Next, this process is repeated until the children produce a masterpiece! The final result gives self-confidence and personal satisfaction to the children.

Story telling is also in stages. The children are given the opportunity to feel, hear and see the story. The story is also animated with finger puppets, regular puppets and special musical instruments, and also colourful pictures and photographs.

Animals in Nature

Once a week there is a special teacher who teaches about “Animals in Nature”. In the beginning she explains to the children that the animal kingdom can be divided into 5 divisions. At first she gave an explanation of the division classes: mammals, reptiles, poultry, fish and amphibians. In addition there is a family of insects. Whenever she teaches, she shows photos and pictures of the animal, shows them an animal ornament, puppet or doll of the animal being taught, and illustrates the animal by making one from recycled boxes, cartons or rolls, and then painting them.

Play Time

On a nice day, the kids are taken to the playground to use all the outside activities. There are swings and a carousel. There is a music corner, the instruments being hung at the level the children can reach. The children also participate in “story-time”, when a story is read and illustrated either by objects/toys or by pictures, depending on the level of the children. Once in 2 months we have a birthday party for all the birthdays to be celebrated these months; our cook prepares a special cake, and the children take part in different activities and games at the party. We also celebrate the feasts of all 3 religions.