Resources
What would you take?
This is a well known and very successful activity to help children and adults alike to begin thinking about the situation of refugees in a sympathetic way.
Give the children a possible scenario where they might have to leave their home in a hurry, not knowing where they are going, or for how long ... or indeed if they will ever come home. This could be through fiction, drama, or reading a personal testimony, for example. Tell them they are allowed to pack a small bag with everything they will need for the journey, and their new life. They will probably only be able to carry about 5 things.
In groups they should decide what they would pack for the journey and why. This can be recorded pictorially, for example in a picture of a backpack or suitcase.
This can either lead to or follow on from a discussion of 'needs' and 'wants'. See 'Global Communities: learning about Refugee Issues, Primary School' pages 32-39 www.refugeeweek.org.uk
Other follow-on activities:
- Ask the children to think about what they have left behind – this would include people, pets, places, activities, hopes and plans as well as material things. They could represent this pictorially, or in writing, under the title: 'The Worst Thing about Leaving was ...', for example.
- Older students (and adults) can list ten things that define them as individuals, e.g. gender, age, nationality, language, profession, family relationships etc, then check how many of these would be significantly affected if they were a refugee.
- List some of the things that a refugee might bring with them. This list focuses on positive qualities and skills, such as courage, determination, knowledge etc., highlighted by reading testimonies or the lives of famous and successful refugees. or refugees in the class. These could also be presented pictorially, for example, within a picture of a heart.