How do you talk to your children about children living across the world? Share your tips with the new Save the Children Club - chance to win £100 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Save the Children has recently launched a new Club for children that gives 7-11 year old children from the UK the chance to explore the everyday life of a child on the other side of the world without leaving their living room!

To help promote this they'd love to hear your tips on encouraging your children to think about children and their lives across the world.

How aware are your children of the situation some children find themselves in, and what prompts conversations about this?

The team at Save the Children Club say "the Club allows children to have a space to celebrate things in their lives that are the same, whilst starting to understand what makes their lives different, from children in other parts of the world".

"After a parent or guardian signs up to the Club, their child will receive a welcome pack that includes a massive world map, an official Club badge and lots of stickers. They'll then receive three Club packs throughout the year bursting with educational activities, great games and fun facts, focusing on a girl or boy from a different country".

"As a Club member, children will also get access to the exclusive Save the Children Club website, where new activities are added every month. Highlights might include activities such as playing a child’s favourite game, learning a few words from their language, making a model of their house, reading their favourite story and cooking a local dish".

To join, parents or guardians simply sign up for a monthly donation of £7.50. Donations will directly support Save the Children's work around the world – meaning other children get the chance of a better future.

Please share on this thread your comments about the Club or about raising awareness of the issues faced by children in many other countries – everyone who does so will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 Book Token.

Thanks and good luck

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We talk a lot about what we have and regularly we talk and go through the toys, books, clothes and give away the things that aren't used regularly. I use this as an opportunity to tell them about young people who don't have toys or the things they have. I also try and find projects and we currently support one locally where my kids put money into the pot to help other young people.
We talk about different places a lot and we have friends all over the world so that also helps with talking about different foods and cultural things that happen in different places.

I haven't really talked much with my children about this, as they are only 4 and 2. DS is starting to get more curious about other countries. He is quite interested in Holland (I forget how this started) although I don't want imagine that Dutch children's lives are very different. There is also a wide variety of life just within the UK.

As a child I used to watch Newsround and I also subscribed to a children's newspaper which used to educate me about the world a bit.

The club sounds quite a good idea.

My DC are 5 and 2 and we discuss children's lives in other countries as they come up. I have the Radio 4 Today programme on in the car on the way to nursery and breakfast club and my 5yo will often have questions about the news stories that come up, which I try to answer in terms that he will understand.

I talk to them, all the time about everything! I have never hidden anything from them and if they see something on TV or read a headline on a paper and ask questions about things I answer them as honestly as I can. We actively encourage them to watch parts of things like Children in Need and Comic Relief so that they do see how other children around the world and indeed in our country are forced to live. It does them no harm to know how lucky they are.

We often start with the books DS picks up in the library. With the radio on in the car, recently, the children have been asking questions about refugees and we've had some challenging discussions.

Neither DH nor I are from the Uk. In fact DH is from a different continent so the DCs get good insight into how children live in different parts of the world when we go visit our home countries or when family comes to visit us. They are totally immersed in different foods, languages, climates, schooling etc and it totally opens their eyes that not everyone lives the same way

Our discussions are usually prompted by television. They are horrified that there are children out there without clean water, or living in war zones - so we discuss what we can do to help others.

The club looks like a great idea.

It's a fine line between preserving innocence of childhood but also instilling good values in them.
I recently took my son on a refugee welcome march. Some people in the local social media were quick to jump on the pictures of children calling us the worse parents ever..... Hey ho. At least my children have a good moral compass.

I talk about things in the news with the DC. We think about their privileges and how it might be to exist under conditions of war and extreme poverty. My DD has been motivated to do a lot of charity work in school enrichment groups and we all talk about this.

We talk about children in other countries a lot - I work with people all over the world, and ds loves to hear about their children

This is a great idea, we don't have TV in our house and it would be a nice, non terrifying way for DD to learn about all of the trials and tribulations children her age are facing.

I remember finding news coverage terrifying when I was her age (5) so want to do my best to avoid that without keeping her in the dark.

DS is 7, and he is very interested in travelling and maps and so on. I am from the Continent, so he often meets foreign children on our travels. His class has a lot of mixed-heritage children, so they often discuss their experiences. The school also regularly hosts events like international day or European Languages day.

Similarly to others he is shocked by adverts, especially about the Water Aid one. He just cannot imagine not having clean water.

He also noticed on my Facebook that I have a Japanese friend with a small child and their photos are a source of endless fascination for DS. Their life is so similar, yet so different.

But in terms of deprivation, it is actually his reading that prompts most of our discussion. He loves historical stories, but for instance could not believe that ancient Egyptian girls could not go to school. Or he strongly identifies with the Weasleys in Harry Potter, so we often talk about not having money and being treated badly because of it.

The Club sounds very interesting and when I find my next job, we will definitely consider it.

I think this club is a great idea to get children aware of how other children live ( and not necessarily always how lucky we are compared to others)

Yes I make my son aware of how we are very lucky and let my son watch documentaries about poorer countries, but i also make him aware of other traditions/religions from other countries.

I actually find it helps my son try new foods if I say this is what people from China /Mexico etc eat he is more likely to eat it .

This looks really interesting! My daughter is only 4.5. I wonder if it would work for younger kids....?

Also the Christmas shoebox appeal is very eye-opening. DS loves choosing the contents for a little boy of his own age.

We've been to plenty of museums, but we also watch the documentaries on Netflix which DS1 was pretty interested in and also started wanting to do stuff based on that. I definitely think it's a good idea.

I think far too many kids have very little awareness. We sponsor children in poverty stricken countries and so our children write to them and receive letters from them so they get to learn more that way.

I think schools could also play a bigger role in this.

we often talk about the charity adverts that we see on the tele and this really gets my little ones thiking. our local school do lots for the unfortunate..we have collections for the foodbank which is such a lovely thing imo.

Sounds a great idea.
My kids have learnt alot through books and discussion after. That and various tv programs.

DS is a bit too young to really grasp the concept of 'other side of the world' and different people's lives but DD is 4 and understands that some people aren't as lucky as us.
We have always told her that not everyone gets the same amounts of presents from Father Christmas because their parents can't afford to buy the presents and we have tried to use that in relation to the current refugee crisis. Some people have had to leave their homes because there were a lot of problems in their country and that this isn't because they have done anything wrong but that they have been very unlucky. I also try to impress (without scaring her, naturally) that we are only where we are and have what we have through pure luck.

My child is to young currently to grasp this (1) however speaking to other children and our current plans are trips to museums to see how different people live(ed). We belong to a church that actively prays for christians in countries that being persecuted. That will be a way to bring up other children's struggles when he is older.
My mum used to sponsor a child which taught me about her area and how she grew up, so we may think of doing this again when I go back to work ina few years time.
Hope that is somewhat helpful for you

My son is a little young at the moment but I will certainly educate and encourage him when the time comes to donate his old clothes, toys and shoes to those less fortunate and make sure he is able to understand how lucky we are by discussing with him.

It sounds like a really nice idea. Unfortunately we couldn't fulfill that kind of donation at this time, but I would like my sons to learn all about children around the world. Little Human Planet is one of my favourites!

I think talking when the opportunity arises is the best. I know that school often talk about children in other countries and the conditions they live in.
After school one day ,my youngest helped himself to water from the tap and then told us how lucky we were to be able to get fresh, clean water. They teach him a lot in school.

The Children's Club sounds like a great idea.