Families who have been displaced to homeless shelters are often living with many people in one room. Your family can allow homeless parents a chance to sleep in by playing games with the children on a weekend morning.

Time Required:
2-3 Hours

Materials Needed:
Various games, paper, crayons, markers, donuts and juice

Steps:
Contact a homeless shelter in your area and ask if they house families. It is important to find out the ages and if there is a big enough room or yard that you could play in. Make a list of games or art projects that you could do in one hour. Make sure the games are appropriate for the children. Simon Says, Red Light, Green Light, Jump Rope, Duck-duck Goose, and any other childhood favorite game often works well. If there are older children, you may want to bring board games or cards. Call the shelter the day in advance. Their guests are very transient and you will need to check numbers and ages again. Play the games with them rather than for them. This way everyone feels they are involved. If it was successful, see if you can set this up again on a regular basis. Maybe you can ask other families you know to rotate weekends.