Smiling Gecko Educational Campus
Learning through play
We have enjoyed a close partnership with the Lakeside School for three years now and have benefited from the great ideas of the children and teachers, as well as the generosity of the families. This has also been the case over the past few months, when an incredible number of LEGO bricks have been collected for us at the two school sites in Küsnacht and Horgen in the canton of Zurich.
Anyone who observes our schoolchildren before lessons or during breaks will quickly notice that even the youngest children don’t have any real toys. Instead, they play with sticks and stones. The rules of the mirror game may not be clear to us, but the children are having fun.
For us adults, watching these games is both amusing and sad. Of course, we are happy to see the little ones having so much fun. But at the same time, we think about how disposable life is for these children, whose families don’t even have money for a few small toys.
But children need to play. Because it is good for their cognitive, physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Because, among other things, it builds their confidence, which will help them now and later in their learning, work and relationships.
With this in mind, we are once again incredibly grateful to our friends at Lakeside School. They were the ones who collected over 80 kilos of unused LEGO bricks from their students in a fundraising campaign. Over 56,000 bricks were packed into boxes and then sent to us in shipping containers on their journey to Cambodia. The bricks have now arrived here and are being enthusiastically used by all age groups to play and learn at the school.
Here are some pictures taken during the visit of Jane McTigue and Dr Anja Römer, who visited us on campus in April. Under the theme ‘My Village, My City’, all classes built masterpieces large and small in honour of our guests, and were even allowed to light them up with little LEDs. The latter was a completely new experience for the children as it was the first time they had ever used miniature light sources and button cells.
Once again, we were amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of our children. And our guests from Lakeside School were very impressed as well, which is reflected in what they’ve said, which we’re happy to share here.
“Some months ago, we were lucky enough to have Barbara join us at Lakeside Schoool to celebrate our latest collaboration – LEGO collection! Another impressive celebration awaited me in Cambodia – as the children from every class shaired their vision and imagination with their LEGO City constructions. Sparkling eyes and twinkling lights!
We truly value the intercultural exchange between the young people of Lakeside and Smiling Gecko, a broadening of perspectives that will serve them well as citizens of tomorrows’ world. We are proud to support the energy, passion and future vision that all at Smiling Gecko bring to this crucial endeavor.”
Jane McTigue
Division Head Kindergarten Lakeside School
“We were delighted to see how enthusiastic the children were to let their imaginations run wild with LEGO, even though they had never seen the toy before. It’s wonderful how a toy can bring two worlds together.
The Smiling Gecko NGO never ceases to impress us, as all our support goes directly to the local people.
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Dr. Anja Römer, mother of two children at Lakeside School
