Partnership teaches children, parents the importance of play

Kami and Neno with Lego Foundation’s Michael Renvillard and Sesame Workshops’ Abigail Bucuvalas

Sesame Workshop and the Lego Foundation share a commitment to helping children become creative, lifelong learners. Combining the Lego Foundation’s expertise in learning through play with Sesame’s proven content development model, their partnership brings opportunities for play-based learning to both children and caregivers in South Africa through the Play Every Day and Play Well and Be Happy initiatives.

“Sesame Street has always been committed to reaching children in their earliest years of life, because it’s when we can have the biggest impact - and play is one of the most powerful ways to foster development in key cognitive, physical, and social-emotional areas,” said Sherrie Westin, Sesame Workshop’s executive vice president of Global Impact and Philanthropy. “Together with our partners at the Lego Foundation, we are focused on bringing engaging and transformative learning experiences to children throughout South Africa and beyond, particularly to those most in need.”

“World Play Day is a both a celebration of children as our role models and an opportunity to advocate on behalf of play’s crucial role in young children’s positive development. Early childhood is a pivotal time for brain development, and the scientific community has found increasing evidence that infants and children are constantly learning, connecting, and engaging with their surroundings through positive playful experiences,” says Michael Renvillard, Lego Foundation Initiative Lead for South Africa.

The importance of play

20 families participated in special play activities developed through the Sesame Workshop and Lego Foundation partnership. These families will learn new ways to play with their children, leaving with greater knowledge about the importance and benefits of play. Every family will go home with a set of Lego bricks to encourage continued engagement.

World Play Day at work as mom and child make use of Lego Duplo Bricks

By the end of 2018, over 2,000 caregiver-child pairs in Johannesburg and surrounding provinces will participate in a Play Every Day intervention like the one today, which will include Takalani Sesame learning materials, Lego bricks, and facilitated play activities. Play Every Day is designed to inform parents and caregivers about the educational value of play, empowering them to engage with children in ways that contribute to their early development and learning outcomes. Research is a key element of the initiative, and through ongoing formative testing and community play workshops, Play Every Day aims to improve play activities, convey important messages about playful learning, and support play activity facilitators.

Play Well and Be Happy, launched in November 2016 in the Eastern Cape, one of South Africa’s lowest educationally resourced provinces, is intended to create transformative, hands-on learning experiences for some of the most vulnerable children in South Africa. Over 1,000 Play Well and Be Happy kits, featuring the loveable Takalani Sesame Muppets and Lego Duplo bricks, are being distributed to classrooms throughout the Eastern Cape, which will reach 3,000 caregivers and 30,000 children. In addition, teachers and caregivers are trained to understand and adopt learning through play concepts to foster skills like counting, spatial relationships, working memory, color, and shape recognition.