Before I left for Africa with Compassion International, a box appeared on my doorstep from Rich Davis, the creator of Pick and Draw, a drawing game for children. The box was full of decks of Pick and Draw for me to take along with me to Africa and share with the children at the Compassion centers we visited.

Although I brought paper and pens along with me, we ended up finding sticks and drawing in the dirt around us. We all made a big circle and I explained how the drawing game worked….well, as best as I could!

Overall, the game is very simple. You pick one card from each color-coded pile {face, nose, eyes, mouth, and hair} and then use those shapes to create your character.

Though there was a language barrier at times, we added in some charades to help explain what we were drawing.

I even stuck out my tongue for effect. {grins}

Sending Pick and Draw to Compassion Children

Prior to my trip to Africa {and playing in the dirt with the kids}, we have been mailing Pick and Draw cards to the children that we sponsor, a few at a time {thanks so much to Kris from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for this idea}. In one letter to our sponsored child, we briefly described how the game worked and included five of the cards {one for each of the facial features} along with the letter.

In each of the letters that we send to our child we include another set of five Pick and Draw cards for the family to add to the collection. Because we have more than one Compassion child we are sending cards to, we labeled the Pick and Draw decks with their names so we can keep track of what we’ve already sent.

It’s a quick and simple little something to add to each of our sponsored letters and we also include some of the pictures that we’ve drawn using those same cards ~ just for fun.

If you currently sponsor a child through Compassion International, what is something fun that you have mailed to them? Leave a comment below and share!!

If you are not currently sponsoring a child through Compassion International, I cannot even begin to describe the impact that your $38/month will have for one child and their family ~ please sponsor a child today!