Little Darlings Toddler Programme

Little Darlings—the name we have given to the toddler group at the Mercy Home. These toddlers were abandoned by their parents, some are handicapped, most are female.  The handicapped ones most likely will not be adopted; a few toddlers are waiting for paper work to go through. They face a very challenging future especially in India, a country which tends not to value female and handicapped people. When they were with the smaller babies in the nursery, the heavy workload prevented the baby carers from providing the training and attention that these older babies need. So we have separated them into their own wing, with their own teacher and 'aya', (nanny.) See Photos »

Our goals, in 'Lil Darlings' are the following:

1. Make them feel loved and special
2. Build positive self esteem
3. Provide a structured schedule and environment to help them feel secure, and to provide necessary training in life skills, such as potty training, hygiene, learning to feed themselves, putting away their toys,  etc.
4. Give them a healthy diet.
5. Provide opportunities for them go outside to get good exercise and fresh air, and see nature (the Mercy Home is located in a rural area.)
6. Utilise early learning techniques, in order to aid their mental and intellectual development. These simple and easy-to-use techniques include providing them with supervised play time with educational toys, reading age-appropriate books to them, singing songs with them, action rhymes, and showing them 'picture fact' flash cards a few times a day.

 

 

Danny has fun playing with the tambourine