Our September service project was a lot of fun! We made 40 fall activity kits and will be donating them to the Ronald McDonald Charity House (RMCH) Kansas City. The "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" theme was inspired by a donation from Spirit that included 40 Peanuts stuffed animals. Spirit offered them to KindCraft and we created this event to provide comfort and fun activities for siblings that stay at the RMCH-KC.
The Ronald McDonald Charity House "keeps famiies close to their sick children while they get the care and supportive services they need." Adrienne Fleck, Guest and Family Experience Manager from RMCH-KC, attended our event and spoke for a few minutes about the RMCH. She explained that currently, all 94 rooms are filled and they are at capacity. She told the families how excited she was that we were making kits because they care a lot about the well being of the families that stay with them and these types of kits keep them busy and comforted during difficult times.
There were a total of nine stations that families rotated through. First up was Ghost Pops! Kids wrapped tootisie pops with coffee filters to make ghosts. It is so fun to listen in on what KindCraft kids say at events. One boy said, "They won't even know what flavor they are getting until they unravel the ghost!" It's wonderful to hear their excitement over giving to others.
Next up was the Pumpkin Lego station. Kids made a pumpkin shaped treat bag filled with 30 pieces of various sized lego bricks. They cut out a leaf, hole punched it and tied the bag with twine. One little guy said it was his first time ever using a hole punch :)
We wanted to include a game in the kits but it needed to be one that the KindCraft kids could put together. So we came up with Halloween Tic Tac Toe-a simple game someone could easily play while staying at the RMCH-that is of course, as long as they don't eat the game pieces! Each bag was filled with five candy pumpkins and five candy corns. It was neat to here the different reactions to the smell of all that candy!
Art can be very therapeutic for all ages so we included a pumpkin craft. This is an example of what the finished product will look like once the child completes it.
Kids chose 20 different fall themed strips of paper. They also included all of the materials needed to make this beautiful pumpkin-a glue stick, a stem, a curly leaf they made using a pipe cleaner and a pencil, two pieces of white paper, and directions. We hope the kids at RMCH love designing their pumpkins!
This is what the final product looks like that went into the kits.
When things are worrisome, such as the anxiety that comes with having a loved one in the hospital, it's nice to have a distraction. So we had our KindCraft kids make "I Spy" bottles.
Prior to the event, several families volunteered to make bright colored rice. Kids used funnels to pour their choice of colored rice into the bottles. They also added small items like a broken crayon, tiny pom poms, foam pieces including a scarecrow, candy corn, an acorn, etc. They shook the bottle up to make the pieces harder to find and then Student Ambassadors hot glued the lids on. Amazingly, we ended the night with just a few pieces of rice on the floor!
Here is what the I Spy bottle looks like once its done and a copy of the list that went into each bag.
Often times, KindCraft families enjoy helping from the comfort of their home. Several families helped to make these pumpkin crayons, using a silicone pumpkin mold. We also designed a Charlie Brown themed coloring book that the kids put together and stapled.
Next, kids made "Make Your Own Monster" kits including playdough, a few googly eyes, pieces of straw, pipe cleaners, and tassles. Several kids told me that they were excited to go home to make thier own Playdough Monster.
There were several other items that went into the bags that didn't require any assembly including a foam Peanuts airplane, a Peanuts rubix cube, crayons, a make-your-own pumpkin face sticker sheet, a brand new book "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" graciously donated by Jim and Chris Smith, and an activity sheet created by Eve Loehrer. Eve has volunteered with her family at KindCraft events in the past and has recently been donating her time and services to help us with some graphic design work.
The final step was to put everything together into these adorable Peanuts themed bags. We loved hearing the kids pick out which stuffed animal would go in their bag.
We headed outside for some group pictures! We cannot wait for these to be in the hands of kids at the Ronald McDonald Charity House. We hope they provide comfort, fun, and a bit of a distraction during a challenging time. Kids helping kids-can't beat that!
Special thanks to our Student Ambassadors who helped run the entire event! They work very hard before the event helping to set up, during the event assisting kids, and after the event cleaning and packing everything up. Not only are you all a huge help, you are also such good role models for our younger kiddos! Pictured below on the left is our President and Co-founder of KindCraft, Courtney Smith, and on the right is Student Ambassador Shae Dougan, who volunteers often with us. If your teen is interested in becoming a Student Ambassador, please have them sign up here!
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