 Education, training, entrepreneurship

 Since 2015 (Chemins d'Enfances program)

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The context

Today in France, the housing crisis has worsened. 42,000 children were living in emergency accommodation, makeshift shelters or on the streets in August 2022, according to Unicef France and the Fédération des acteurs de la solidarité.

Families housed in emergency shelters live in extremely cramped conditions, with harmful consequences for their children's development and the psychological and physical state of their parents.

According to the ENFAMS report (Children and Families without Housing) by the Observatoire du Samusocial de Paris published in 2014, there are 4 times more depressive disorders in mothers with a street background and a strong correlation between the mother's depressive state and development in the child.

The "Growing Up Homeless" report also highlights the impact of homelessness on children's mental health: behavioral disorders, anxiety disorders, depression and mood disorders.

From these observations, in 2015 we launched the Chemins d'Enfances program to enable every child to discover and express their full potential and be a bearer of societal change.

The project

Convinced that play is a powerful vector for the development of all one's skills, we organize edutainment workshops in the living quarters of children housed in emergency shelters as part of the Chemins d'Enfances program in France.

Every week, two animators go out to meet children in a van, equipped with a trunk of games, for a 2-hour workshop in Ile de France and Gironde.

Free play

Children need to devote 30 minutes of their day to free play if they are to develop serenely. That's why we always start our workshops with a period of free play, based on the ESAR system developed by Quebec psycho-pedagogue Denise Garon (itself inspired by Jean Piaget's theory of the stages of child development).

This system consists of arranging the play area into 4 play and toy areas:

• The games ofExercise such as skipping rope or stilts, which develop children's gross motor skills and coordination.
• The games SymbolicsRole-playing and role-acting with dolls or playmobil, for example, through which children externalize emotions and traumas linked to their migratory journey, living conditions or current conflicts. They will reproduce scenes from their daily lives in order to understand them, and eventually digest and control them. These games will also develop their creativity and imagination.
• The games ofAssemblyKappla and jigsaw puzzles, for example, will encourage the development of logic and fine motor skills. Children will also learn problem-solving skills, enabling them to move on to more complex learning activities such as mathematical problems.
• The games Rules more commonly known as board games, will enable children to learn anticipation and strategy. These games will also call on their social skills, as they play with others, learn to negotiate and manage conflicts.

Tried and tested in more than 30 countries, this trunk of games is now universal!

Thematic activity

In a context of precariousness, children are confronted with emotional difficulties such as anxiety, sadness or frustration. To respond to these, we create customized edutainment activities based on group dynamics, individual characteristics and the problems inherent in their living environment.

In particular, we set up workshops on managing emotions and conflict. We support them in building their identity and their sense of legitimacy to live on their territory.

Social insecurity, which leads to anxiety about the future - "where are we going to sleep tonight?" "what are we going to eat? According to neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik, when children are insecure, when factors external to family life and beyond their parents' control deprive them of stability, their bodies produce substances that damage their brains.
Through our emotion management workshops, we aim to provide a safe space for children to express, understand and manage their emotions in a healthy way. In this way, we promote their psychological well-being and strengthen their resilience in the face of the challenges they face.

Local roots: developing a sense of legitimacy 

Children find it difficult to feel they have a legitimate place in the area where they live. They also feel ashamed around the age of 8, when they become aware of their living conditions. Isolated and withdrawn, they don't go to establishments offering activities close to home.

That's why we create partnerships with media libraries and social centers in the towns where we work. We organize cultural outings to initiate initial encounters and create links between the professionals of these structures and the children. The aim is to enable them to visit the various venues without the presence of the association.

Tried and tested in all contexts for 15 years (in Cambodia, India and France, in shanty towns, refugee camps and emergency accommodation such as social hotels), the Magic Place project won the 2018 "France s'Engage! (Winner in the Inclusion category).

It is currently deployed in all the departments of Ile-de-France and Gironde. Every year, we support more than 500 children aged 4 to 12, and work for at least one school year with some 50 partner establishments catering for people in situations of extreme poverty and exclusion, to complement the work carried out by social workers, educators and entertainers.