Clean Out Your Kid's Toys for a Great Cause!

El Jardin Infantil El Roble La Pintana is a new preschool that needs help.

This new Montessori preschool was built and is funded by the government - they built the building, pay the teachers, and the kids go for free. It is in the WORST neighborhood of Santiago (think inner-city but in a third world country). There are 300 kids from birth to age 6, in eleven classrooms. The school was a six year project and finally opened just last month.

The catch is this: they are in empty classrooms! They are given virtually no funding for supplies, toys, books, you name it. They literally have nothing. So, they are looking for donations.

Specific type things that were mentioned: puzzles, craft supplies, books, baby blankets, toys. Stuff that has some kind of "educational play" value. From my limited experience, they set up "stations" in these classrooms so think in that kindof direction.

We are looking like dress-up clothes, maybe plastic kitchen type stuff, animals/farm-type toys, kitchen toys, baby toys, dolls, etc.

Any picture books are fine, even if they are in English. Mostly they are looking for bright pictures with really good pictures. Of course, any children's books in Spanish would be great.

They have no decoration or artwork for the walls! So any pictures/posters, anything to make a preschool classroom pretty and appealing to small children would be great.

I asked about craft supplies as well. Crayons, markers, construction paper, playdoh, whatever preschoolers like to do crafts with.

And if you're getting really ambitious, they even mentioned they are looking for play equipment for their yard, which has nothing.

All that we ask is that of course whatever items that might be "used" still be in very good condition for a classroom.

And of course if you don't have stuff to get rid of, but would like to hit up dollar stores, Walmart, or Target, etc.; feel free to do that as well!

If you are in the US, we have volunteers with a US mailing address where you can mail stuff and we will receive it here. Then we can take your things to the school when we go visit in a couple of weeks.