ChildsPlay International - CPI

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ChildsPlay International - CPI

Play is essential to a child’s development. CPI works to promote greater opportunities for play wh

04/17/2026

Heaven

03/22/2026

Stories Help Children Connect With Their Roots

For children who have been , losing home often means losing connection to culture, traditions, and a sense of belonging.

Through , our partners create spaces where children can reconnect with their roots — sharing stories passed down through generations, remembering where they come from, and finding comfort in something familiar.

As we/our partners on the ground have documented, in these moments, become more than words. They become a way for children to hold on to identity, even in the face of uncertainty.

Across communities, this work is helping ensure that traditions are not lost — but carried forward by the children themselves.

03/02/2026

If you’ve been following the growth of our storytelling sessions in Lusaka, you know this is significant:

100 children attended this weekend.

A year ago, we were building consistency. Strengthening trust. Showing up week after week. Now, 100 children are choosing to spend their Saturday in a space built around stories, discussion, and community.

That number isn’t just growth.

It means:

🟪 100 children raising their hands during discussion.

🟨 100 children practicing critical thinking and respectful debate.

🟥 100 children being seen and heard.

📗 100 children choosing learning and dialogue on a weekend.

This week’s story was “Good Luck.” A tale about fear, perspective, and whether we run from what scares us — or face it.

The discussion was full. Every age participated. The younger ones eager. The older ones thoughtful and articulate. The room held energy, respectful disagreement (critical thinking skill), and lively discussions about that the moral of the story is.

Reaching 100 isn’t about scale for the sake of scale.
It’s about what happens inside that circle — and how many children now have a place in it.

02/25/2026

And something we never planned for is taking shape. Two of the older girls, Anifa and Sakina, have started leading parts of the storytelling session. They guide discussion, mentor the younger children, and help watch over the smaller ones.

Every Saturday in Lusaka, about 80 children (ages 2–18) show up for storytelling. The majority NEVER miss a session, that's how instrumental this is to them.

We read the story — and then comes the discussion:
“What is this story really about?”

Hands shoot up. All of them. The little ones, the teens — everyone eager to answer. They debate, challenge each other, rethink, and try again. No one hangs back.

After that much thinking and talking, they run. They jump. They let off steam.

Here are a few moments from last Saturday.

02/18/2026

In Pakistan, an estimated 26 million children are out of school — not because their families don’t care, but because poverty and instability make survival the priority.

For more than three decades, has been changing that reality — bringing school directly into underserved communities and informal settlements, meeting children where they are. Each year, they provide education to more than 4,500 children who might otherwise never enter a classroom.

They do not wait for children to come to school.
They bring the school to them.

Today we celebrate the dedicated teachers and staff who show up daily with courage, consistency, and deep belief in every child’s potential — restoring dignity, opportunity, and hope where it is needed most.

02/14/2026

STORYTELLING HELP CHILDREN FEEL ROOTED AGAIN

What began as a simple idea , sharing stories and play with children in an overcrowded refugee camp, has grown into a global effort reaching thousands of children living through displacement.

Displaced children often lose more than their homes. They lose daily routines, friendships, and the familiar sounds and traditions that shape who they are.
“Children don't know what to do and are completely traumatized. Losing their friends and homes, or being trapped inside, leads to severe mental states with constant insecurity and other issues,” says Sarwar Mushtaq, CPI co-founder.

Stories help rebuild what conflict and crisis interrupt. Through storytelling, children remember songs, characters, and traditions from home — reconnecting with culture, identity, and belonging. In CPI sessions, stories are told, drawn, and acted out together, allowing children to participate gently and at their own pace.

Even far from home, stories help children feel rooted again.

The Pictures are from Jalozai Refigee Camp, Pakistan, Palabek Refugee Camp in Northern Uganda, from Charsadda, Pakistan where we organized two days of play, song and storytelling for children isolated from Covid, and from Lusaka, Zambia where we run a program for vulnerable children.

02/12/2026

Storytelling in Uganda is a living tradition—and drawing helps children enter it.
When children are invited to draw a story, they can express ideas, feelings, and experiences they don’t yet have words for. Drawing becomes a shortcut to language—opening pathways to new vocabulary, confidence, and shared meaning.

Through CPI’s storytelling partnerships in Uganda, children listen, move, and draw stories into being. In 2023, we started working with HAF-Uganda to support displaced children, mostly Sudanese refugees, in the north. In 2024, we partnered with Youth Sports Uganda to bring storytelling through play and art to vulnerable and displaced children in Kampala.

When words are still forming, drawings speak.

02/09/2026

CPI storytelling — impact in action:

At CPI, is more than a creative activity—it’s a way to help children feel safe again. By turning stories into play, movement, and drawing, children are given gentle ways to express experiences that are often hard to put into words.

Across our partner programs, this method is helping children release fear, build trust with peers, and regain a sense of control and belonging. For many, storytelling becomes a first step toward healing trauma—through imagination, connection, and emotional safety.

This is the power of stories when they are lived, shared, and held with care.

02/07/2026

CPI storytelling program update | Pehli Kiran Schools, Islamabad:

At Pehli Kiran Schools, which serve more than 4,500 street-connected and highly marginalized children, teachers are seeing that the most meaningful changes don’t always show up in long reports. They show up when a child who never spoke begins to raise a hand, when fear gives way to trust, and when early reading and expression start to take root.

Through our partnership, Pehli Kiran is shifting focus toward tracking these everyday signs of progress—confidence, engagement, and literacy—while strengthening how storytelling is delivered in classrooms. What’s next includes clearer session structures, teacher-led storytelling, and a shared CPI storytelling + social–emotional learning approach designed to be simple, low-cost, and replicable across schools serving children who need it most. https://pkschools.org/

02/06/2026

Anopa, Ghana and CPI storytelling program update:

At , inclusive creative storytelling means making sure every child can take part—regardless of confidence, literacy level, or learning style. Stories don’t stay on the page. Children turn them into play, act them out together, and draw scenes and characters to express what words sometimes can’t.

For some students, especially visually impaired, movement is the doorway to confidence. For others, drawing becomes a first step toward sharing ideas or interpreting the story they just heard. By blending storytelling with play and art, Anopa creates multiple ways for children to engage—so every student can be seen, heard, and included.

This is how stories become a shared experience, not just a lesson.

02/04/2026

CPI & Pehli Kiran (Islamabad) storytelling program update:

Through our partnership with Pehli Kiran Schools in Islamabad, Paksitan, we’re seeing consistent, observable outcomes among some of the most vulnerable children in their schools, including many street-children, through CPI’s structured storytelling method (being skillfully deployed by teachers and team at Pehli Kiran!)

Outcomes reported include:
• Increased confidence among both girls and boys, and greater classroom participation
• Greater emotional expression and a stronger sense of safety through the safe space approach
• Stronger peer cooperation and trust
• Early literacy and communication gains

Teachers share that children who rarely spoke are now volunteering to read aloud and perform stories—powerful evidence of what intentional storytelling can unlock.

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534 W. 112 Street
New York, NY
10025

Website

http://www.childsplayintl.org/

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