Kryvyi Rih launches inclusive pottery course for children with Down syndrome

The city of Kryvyi Rih has recently begun offering inclusive pottery master classes for children with Down syndrome at the Honcharenko Center, a hub for education and culture. These classes serve as therapeutic sessions, promoting social interaction and unleashing the children's creative abilities.

Rubryka informs about this.

What is the problem?

Children with Down syndrome and other types of mental disabilities need socialization and contact with their peers, but the practice of inclusive programs in Ukraine is still developing. That is why the demand for such projects still exceeds the supply, especially in small cities.

What is the solution?

The team of the educational and cultural space Honcharenko Center Kryvyi Rih launched an inclusive pottery course for children with Down syndrome. According to the director of the center, Ilona Bryzhan, the idea arose after the charity master class "Bells" in support of the 77th separate airmobile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"We were approached by the head of the Kryvyi Rih City Organization for Helping Children and People with Down Syndrome, Sunny Children of Kryvyi Rih. Mrs. Nataliia offered to cooperate, and we gladly reciprocated. These children are truly sunny: we greeted them with hugs, said goodbye with smiles, and their communication is built on trust and mutual understanding," shares the director.

How does it work?

Clay was chosen as the main material for creativity within the course, and not by chance: thanks to its physical properties, it helps children to concentrate and quickly immerse themselves in the creative process.

"The children were delighted with the moist, cool, plastic clay – a meditative process. Someone immediately got involved in the work and began to create the shape of a bell, and someone had their creative idea, which has remained a secret for me," Ilona Bryzhan adds with a smile.

The center also adds that while working with clay, children develop tactile sensitivity, calm down, and practice motor skills of movements that will be useful in everyday life: it will help to fasten buttons, hold a spoon or fork, etc.

Classes within the course are fully inclusive, meaning that children with Down syndrome learn pottery with peers: friends, brothers, and sisters. This promotes integration into society and helps the little one feel more confident.

"At the next meeting, we plan to sculpt ceramic calendars. In my opinion, the product should be useful and practical in application so that the child studies and explores the world around him," adds the director of the Honcharenko Center, Kryvyi Rih.

For reference:

Honcharenko Center is the largest non-governmental all-Ukrainian network of free educational, cultural, and volunteer spaces, founded in 2021. The project's main goal is to inspire and provide the necessary knowledge to people of any age to improve their future.

Since February 24, 2022, Honcharenko centers have become influential volunteer hubs that assist military personnel and displaced persons. Since then, the project team has transferred more than 200 tons of aid, more than 70 vehicles, anti-drone guns, and a self-propelled artillery installation, "Gvozdika," for special forces.

It should be noted that the People's Deputy from "European Solidarity" initiated the opening of free educational and cultural centers in small cities of Ukraine.

Rubryka also reported that the DrukArmy volunteer community and the educational and cultural spaces of the Honcharenko Center are launching a network of free 3D printing workshops. The project will work in Dnipro, Kyiv, and Odesa in the first stage.