The first kids’ party from B50

This month, our project to transform the children’s bomb shelter at Zavorychi Gymnasium into comfortable classrooms for primary school students and into comfortable playrooms for preschoolers who also attend this educational institution has been completed. The teams from the Reconstruction and Shelters projects started working here in December 2023. Four shelter rooms, technical rooms, and the entrance area were equipped one by one, allowing children to use the shelters during air raids and our teams to work in parallel in several rooms.

Thanks to funding from the “Build a World of Play” initiative launched by  ChangeX with the support of the LEGO Foundation, the necessary construction materials were purchased to equip the shelter. The work was carried out by volunteers who worked every weekend, on Saturdays and Sundays. The shelter transformation was completed on April 13!

After finishing such a large-scale project, we decided to start a new tradition and organized a small children’s party for the first time! This type of volunteering is completely new for the B50 team, but it was an interesting and fun experience. We organized a celebration with quests and entertainment for the children who study at this gymnasium and use this bomb shelter. We sincerely hope that in this way we were able to give the children pleasant memories of their time in the bomb shelter, which will not be associated only with air raids, but rather with games, entertainment, contests, and things that will immerse them in the world of childhood.

The small celebration was attended by volunteers from the B50 community, who organized interesting entertainment and sweet gifts for the kids, representatives of the gymnasium administration and, of course, the young pupils who visited the shelter.

On the day of the event, the volunteers arrived early to clean up, prepare everything for the party and games, and hide clues for the quests.

We have prepared a lot of interesting activities for children: quests, face painting, biscuit decorating, making postcards for our defenders and delicious treats.

Throughout the day, the children were accompanied by the unicorn Flower, who guided them to interesting activities, entertained them, supported them and helped make them feel more confident.

The children had the opportunity to paint their faces with aqua makeup, which is non-toxic and easy to wash off. They chose their own patterns or designs, and our volunteers applied them to their faces or hands.

The program also included a master class on biscuit decorating. The young gymnasium students chose their own blanks and colors for such art, and then checked how their works of art tasted.

The kids also tried their hand at making postcards, which they signed and which we will later send to our defenders.

While one group of children was having fun in the bomb shelter, another group was going on pirate or sea quests outside. Participants solved riddles, looked for clues throughout the gymnasium, and at the end received “treasures”.

The children also painted pictures that now decorate the walls thanks to our Shelters project volunteers and designer Uliana Slutska. So dolphins, deer, giraffes, crocodiles, and other animals are now not only on the walls.

The visitors of Zavorychi Gymnasium really enjoyed the party, and we are glad that we were able to give the children not only a safe and comfortable space, but also positive emotions.

The atmosphere of the children’s party captivated the B50 volunteers, so they had some fun as well.

We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the creation of the event for the children:

• “Малятко” (Malyatko) brand for providing healthy sweets and baby water for the kids’ party and Iryna Dotsenko for her help in organizing it;
• boxparty.com.ua, an online store of ready-made quests, for providing ideas for themed quests;
• Tetiana Bezrodna for providing candies for sweet gifts;
• Lesia Khomenko for organizing generous discounts on the purchase of sweets for children;
• our volunteer Iryna Hrymaylo for the opportunity to bring the unicorn to life;
• Lera Lymborska for providing bright colors for face painting.

We would also like to thank the volunteers and the B50 team who took part in organizing the event: Anastasiia Baranova, Anna Sarnavska, Volodymyr Stetsyura, Iryna Nasedkina, Iryna Rehesha, Oleksandra Poliakova, Oleksandr Shcherbinin, Olena Petrenko, Polina Koruts, Ruslan Habdulov, Tetiana Maznyk, Yuliia Habdulova, and Yanina Kobets.

The first experience of organizing a children’s party in a transformed shelter was successful, gave a lot of pleasant emotions to the gymnasium students and was definitely remembered by the B50 volunteers. So we will certainly repeat this event!