SKNYPA jumps, skips and hops with the children of St. Peters

CONCENTAPLAY GROUP

ZIZ News…May 30 2010 – The laughter and squealing of children having fun could be heard from the street outside the St. Peters Community Center. Some 40 children turned out despite the inclement weather to COMCENTAPLAY hosted by the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA) Friday night (May 28).

At COMCENTAPLAY – Come to the Community Center and Play with us – old-fashioned games are used to promote a culture of family time and creating safe places for our children to play. It is also used to encourage children to socialize with each other outside of school and to build a spirit of teamwork, cooperation and conflict resolution.

The two-hour session began just after 6pm. Members of the group played Mississippi, hand tennis, hop scotch, dominoes and twister with the boys and girls who were predominantly students of the Dean Glasford Primary School.

After a competitive game of musical chairs, the group ended the event with a motivational talk from the President of SKNYPA, Jihan Williams. Ms. Williams sat the participants down and asked about their career aspirations. Singers, doctors, footballers and teachers were some of their responses. Ms. Williams told them that in order to reach their goals, they would have to focus on their school work and stay away from crime. She also encouraged them to help people in their communities and to be nice to each other.

The children assured her that they liked school and that they knew that crime was a bad thing. Fruits and water were then served to replace the energy spent on having a great time and one of the youngest students left the members inspired after she volunteered to pray to close the event. Then it was time for Sknyparians to wave goodbye to the children and call it a night.