Marriott Circus Fun Day

On Saturday the 25th November the 4kali team and children on our Support-A-Child program were invited to the J.W Marriott hotel in Phuket for an action packed day of circus training and survivor team building!

We collected the children from their various schools and headed to Phuket, where we were greeted by the very ‘happy’ hotel recreation team. There was also another group of children invited from the Baan Nam Kem area, a perfect opportunity for the children to meet new friends. 

The groups were split into two; 4Kali were named ‘Chang’, which means Elephant in Thai. We were also given an action, group song and were ready to take on the opposition! 

The day’s fun started with team building games, which the children were amazing at, they really pulled together and helped each other along. The first game involved shooting a ping pong ball out of a long piece of tubing with holes in it. One of the children in our group had the ingenious idea of grabbing a hose from a near by gardener and using the jet of water to shoot the ball out…. It worked and Chang Team won! Next the groups had to race as fast as we could to the beach where two kayaks were waiting for us. Two sets of children from each of the groups paired up and donned life jackets and then raced in a relay out to a buoy and back again, where they tagged another team pair. The recreation staff was fantastic and offered support and encouragement to those who were apprehensive and followed closely by in a raft.  Once again the 4Kali team proved to be great team players and won, despite using some of the younger, smaller children, Chang still managed to win! The next game was the traitorous quick sand which involved strategic thinking, the children had to cross an area of sand using a limited amount of paper stepping stones; these were periodically removed by the staff. This served to be no problem for the 4Kali group. The children managed the task using a tactical approach and working as a team, with the older children carrying the smaller ones across the finishing line. Next we sprinted through the Marriott hotel, watching out for the guests and headed to the beautiful pond. The game now was one of patience and listening skills. 4 plastic fish were placed in the water, the children were required to hook the fish out using the bamboo rods provided whilst being blindfolded! There was much hilarity as the as the fish fell off the hooks, lines got tangled and a few near misses as the children excitingly edged closer to the waters edge. The game ended with a team effort trying to retrieve the last fish and then a race to the next adventure. Here the ingenious staff created a game using just a towel which involved all of the children standing on it and trying to flip it completely over without touching the tiled floor. The last ‘survivor’ game was a memory game. The children took it in turns to cross a large grid made from rope. There were various hidden bombs, the children had to use their memory skills to cross over the end grid and also had the disadvantage of not being allowed to verbally communicate! The older children helped and encouraged the younger children, remaining patient even at the most frustrating times. As the children became more confident and the task became clearer, the game picked up a pace and the children soon followed in a victorious line across the last grid! 

After a morning of action packed activities the children and 4Kali staff members were given a chance to cool down in the children’s pool. Some of the children climbed on the ceramic turtles that aligned the pool, others played a game of water tag, an inflatable ball was found which started up an impromptu game of water volleyball, but most exciting of all the children lined up to race down the fountain laced flume.

After using up so much mental and physical energy the children were lead to the stunning lunch hall where they were met by the catering staff and a banquet of food fit for the King! The tables were decorated with balloons, beautiful table cloths and cuddly toys and the food was laid out in a buffet style for the children to help themselves. There was a wide range of delicious dishes available, including a mix of Thai and Western food; the hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, fizzy drinks and ice cream were a huge hit! After an hour of filling themselves with as much food as they could eat, the children relaxed in the lobby and enjoyed games of table football, drawing and small table top activities.

The recreation team; rejuvenated after a busy morning, was now ready for the exciting afternoon activities ‘Circus Training’. The children were divided into mixed groups and sent to the various activities set up. Some of the children (and staff) lined up ready to leap from the small trampoline which was lined up with safety mats, another group of children sat patiently waiting to ride on the activity bike with ‘King Kong’, here they could ride tandem, stand on trick nuts and even make a small pyramid on top of his shoulders. A large trampoline kept another group excitably happy, the children circled the equipment and encouraged and laughed at the funny positions some of the children were ending up in after a small tumble here and there! The main attraction had to be the standing single trapeze! Here the children (and adults) watched in amazement as the children were lifted into the air, turned upside down and had the opportunity to swing through the air! The staff and patient observers were amazing, offering words of encouragement and lots of cheers as their peers dangled from the sky.  

Once we thought the day or activities couldn’t get any better the children were taken over to the main attraction…. a double flying trapeze! Here they there were not just hoisted into the air, they had to leap from a platform, swing through the air and catch a second pole, turn themselves upside down and dismount with a double back flip! This certainly provided a challenge, not only for the children but also for the game adults willing to give this a try. The children were individually rigged up to the equipment and apprehensively waited for their turn. They treated this with the same passion as the other activities and faced the challenge head on! There were squeals of delight, panic and laughter as the children literally had the chance to FLY! Some of the 4Kali staff members also attempted the activity; however they did not have the same poise and agility as their younger counterparts!
The day ended up with a final swim and time to reflect on a very exciting day. The children thanked the hotel staff and had an opportunity to put their thoughts onto paper. A very exhausted group of children then mounted the bus ready for a sleepy ride home!

 

4Kali.org would like to say a very special thank you to Kathy and all of the wonderful staff at the J.W Marriott for inviting the children and making it such an amazing day!