My family wanted to take toys to the poor children in Guatemala, but don't know what to give, any suggestions?

Question

My family and I are going to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where the families are very poor. We have found some toys and clothing to give to them that we no longer want, but don't want to do something we'll regret later. If you have any suggestions to what we should give or reasons why we should not take this action, please reply. Thank you so much!

Answer 1

I would give the children soccer balls,football,. or a baseball and glove. something like that, where a lot of them can play together. that way if you can't take much with you at least all the kids would get to play.

for babies I would give stuffed animals, or other plush toys that are soft and they could cuddle with.

Answer 2

I suggest giving not just toys but books, too. Food will also help since how can they play those toys when they don't even have the energy to use them? Instead of bringing just your stuff, try asking neighbors' contribution. Also, if you'll be staying there for quite some time, arrange some seminars. Teach them how to make some crafts, etc. Teach them hygiene and how to prevent diseases. Bring some medicines, too. I also think that bringing superior birth control will be totally helpful since overpopulation is one of the many causes of poverty. Ok? Bring condoms for them to use. Don't bring medicinal birth control since those will harm them if misused. With condoms, the men will just wear them, plain and simple. It's no brainer stuff. What else, uhm, bring pots and pans that you don't use anymore. Bring plastic containers, etc. Just bring stuff that you think a family would need :) Milk? Bring milk.

Answer 3

Books, pencils and/or paper. Check out : www.mayanfamilies.org

Answer 4

There are some very good suggestions already here, but I have to tell you one of my experiences.  My wife, who grew up in a poor town in Guatemala, and I bring things down everytime we travel or we send stuff down if someone else in the family is traveling.  Toys are great, but more practical things are better.  We always bring down clothes and school supplies.  When my wife was growing up, the entire classroom shared ONE PENCIL.  I always buy pencils when I see them on sale in the stores.  The look on the childrens faces for something as simple as a pencil is priceless.  Bring clothes, not only for the children, but the parents too.  They will wear anything you give them, but Jeans, T-Shirts, Sweatshirts/Flannel are the most common things they wear.  School supplies you can bring Paper, Pencils, Pens, rulers, or whatever else you can think of.  No matter what you bring, they will be delighted that someone was thinking of them.  If you still want to bring toys, cars/trucks for boys and barbies for girls.  I hope this helps and thank you for thinking of others who are less fortunate.

Answer 5

I just came back from there. Toys are great idea, but books, school supplies, warm clothing (at night is chilly in that area), shoes-on the small size, house hold items like soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, first aid kits, bath towels, etc...are really a help to them......good luck!!!

Answer 6

Trust me hit up the Dollar Store and anything that you can find there that is not war related will be highly appreciated.  What most kids in the united states find meaning less they find it to be a true treasure.  Anything from dolls, toy cars, pencils with drawings on them, hair ties, balls, trust me anything works.

Answer 7

kids will love anything taht you can bring them

but any thing sport related, you know footballs, bats and baseballs. but not NFL football we play soccer here

Answer 8

I don't understand what and why you regret giving but here's some suggestions. I don't know how you are going to be getting these things to the kids but find a local church, orphanage, or mission and I am sure they would be happy to take these things to distribute.

-stuffed animals-use one of those spacebags to fit in more

-babydolls

-toy cars like small hotwheels-it seems that you could have alot of those to give to alot of kids

-clothes of various sizes such as shirts, skirts/dresses, pants,undergarments(new)

Good luck

Answer 9

Toys for girls:

Dolls

Stuffed animals

Barbies

Kitchen toys

Toys for boys:

Balls - they love to play football soccer

Cars

Monsters

Transformers

SUGGESTION:

do not bring weapon toys for them PLEASE

do not bring toys that require batteries as most people there is poor and they will not have money to buy batteries

CLOTHES:

Shirts, skirts, pants, t-shirts, shorts, shoes, caps.

And by the way, thanks for caring about our Guatemalan kids that need help.

Answer 10

We've adopted from Guatemala and every time we would go down for a visit we would stuff our luggage full of items for the kids there.  What we noticed that they loved the most was (like many have already said) school supplies.  The children are eager to learn and yet have so little to use.  We took tons of crayon boxes, pencils, manual pencil sharpeners, construction paper, "round pointed" children's scissors, stick glue, and any kind of craft item we could find that was not heavy.  (I found a sale on colorful pipe cleaners and bought several packages and took them as well....kids can make all sorts of things with pipe cleaners!)  

Year round I keep my eyes open for clearances and sales for items that will be lightweight to take on visits.  I stock up and then either take it myself or send it items with someone else that I know that is headed to Guatemala.  

Thank you for your kind heart.

Answer 11

I would say anything. Im from guatemala and when I was little I would take all the stuff I didn't want anymore, and they were really apreciative. They pretty much would accept anything since of there economic situations

Answer 12

I think what you intend to do is great! I don't know any reason why you cannot or should not take any clothing or gifts for the poor. Just be sure you have enough for all the children. It would be upsetting and sad if some are left out because you run out of gifts, don't you think?

You can get inexpensive toys from the Dollar Tree stores (if you have any of these where you live. I assume you are living in the USA. But I don't know which States or which cities have the Dollar Tree stores.) They have cheap toys and you can buy many. I think they all cost $1 each or $1 each package.Children who are living in poverty will gladly have any toy you can give them and will appreciate. Some years back, a friend at church bought fabric and made these rag dolls with the help of church ladies and made at least 100 of them for little girls and for the little boys they collected those McDonald's toys (each time someone ate at McD, they bought a Happy meal, ate the food and kept the toy for a Guatemala kid). Of course they were toys that boys played with, like little cars and animals. Some others bought toys from Dollar Tree too.