Sick kids the winners as girl masters arcade game

FINE ART: Ev-Ah Moore spent about $100 of her pocket money winning soft toys to donate to Tauranga Hospital's children's ward. PHOTO/JOHN BORREN

A Tauranga girl has used her knack for arcade games to brighten the day for many sick children.

Ev-Ah Moore, 11, spent about $100 of her pocket money on claw crane arcade games during the summer holidays and won more than 25 soft toys.

"I just kept on getting pocket money so I went to the arcade in Palm Beach Plaza and I kept on winning toys for the children," she said.

Yesterday, she donated more than 20 of the soft toys she had won to the Tauranga Hospital children's ward.

"It was just to do a kind thing and help the kids that have just had a procedure," she said. "When we were there the nurse gave a toy to a child that was just about to have an operation."

The Tauranga Intermediate student had mastered the game.

The trick was to look through the side of the box and make sure the claw was lined up right before trying to pick it up, she said.

"I just keep on looking on the side. You have to check if it's in the middle and okay on the sides before you do it."

Mother Maria Moore said she was proud of her daughter's generosity.

"She's a brilliant, lovely little soul and she won all these toys and I said, 'what are you going to do with them?' and she thought about it and decided to donate them to the hospital for the children that are sick.

"She decided it would be nice to give them to the kids that needed them."

Hospital play specialist Debbie McDougall said it was a lovely gesture.

"We just gave one to a patient and her sister. It really brought a smile to their faces."