A unique therapeutic game invented in Israel for Ukrainian children when the Russia-Ukraine war began, is once again being used, this time to help the evacuated children of the Gaza envelope. In addition to mourning family and friends lost in the attack, the children are also coping with the loss of their homes and belongings.
A joint initiative of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security, in collaboration with Safra Children's Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, seeks to help these children cope with the trauma and process it in a healthy way, using "My Home" game kits.
Noa Kirel meets the children of the envelope in Hungary // Koren White (archive)
The game consists of a cardboard box that turns into a small house for dolls that the children will make using materials and stickers included in the kit. The goal of the game is to help children process and regulate the difficult feelings that arise in them as a result of what they have gone through and to cope with the new reality by creating a safe space for conversation. Each child designs his own 'home', while the parent or caregiver reflects his feelings for the child and helps him describe, process and digest what he has gone through, fears and dreams.
The therapeutic game, My Home, was developed by Professor Itai Pessach, Director of Sheba Children's Hospital, and Yael Livneh, an expressive and creative therapist and an expert in treating trauma of children and youth. The game was first developed in 2022, to help children affected by the war in Ukraine who were treated at an Israeli field hospital established in Ukraine by Sheba Hospital in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health.
Girls from the envelope playing in "My House",
Recognizing the urgent need that has arisen again these days, this time in Israel, the staff of Safra Hospital, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Yael Livneh joined forces to once again produce the game kits, adapted to Israeli children, and to redistribute it widely. The kits were distributed, with the help of volunteers from Brothers in Arms – The Civilian War Room and the Ministry of Social Affairs, to a number of hotels throughout the country to which families from the envelope were evacuated.
According to Yael Livneh: "Many children at different stages of development have difficulty processing, regulating or expressing their feelings. They find it difficult to share and talk about difficult events or experiences, so many experiences remain unconceptualized or understood for them . Preparing the "My Home" kit allows them to create, imagine, dream, tell, share, so they can express their emotional experiences in a way that allows professionals to easily identify distress and needs and even intervene effectively using children's language – the language of play."
A factory near the Gaza Strip hit by gunfire, photo: Security Eshkol
Prof. Itai Pessach said, "The 'My Home' kit has already proven itself and has helped a lot in the treatment of many children, and I welcome the initiative to use it for the children of the envelope in Israel. I hope that it will help as many children as possible cope with the difficult experiences they have gone through and are going through in a way that will support and strengthen them."
Salit Shahar-Hochman, the initiator of the idea from the Ministry of Social Affairs, says, "Since the terrible disaster that struck us, tens of thousands of children have been far from their homes and are in an emotional state of confusion, pain and loss of security. Adapting the therapeutic game created for Ukrainian children to be used by children in Israel will help them process their feelings and help their mental state. I would like to thank all those involved in the work – Safra Hospital, the staff members and volunteers who contributed to the issue, promoted the production of the kits and even funded them quickly and generously."
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