UNB
Nov 1, 2022
The event was organized by Brac Institute of Educational Development (Brac IED).
As part of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Brac, and 90th anniversary of LEGO Foundation – Brac's funding partner, they celebrated the “Brac Play Lab”, an early childhood development initiative in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The event was organized by Brac Institute of Educational Development (Brac IED), who are also behind developing this innovative model, said a press release issued on Wednesday.
Children, who came with their parents and caregivers, cheered and enjoyed themselves while engaging in a variety of creative activities at the Brac Center.
“Brac Play Lab Model”, developed with funding from the Denmark-based child development organization LEGO Foundation, has so far been implemented in Bangladesh, Tanzania and Uganda.
The participating kids participated in a variety of plays during the event, including word and number games, word and puppet plays, clay modeling, drawing, and learning through pictures. The event also showcased a research-based display of a range of traditional plays and games of Bengali and ethnic minority communities of Bangladesh.
The event was attended among others, by social media influencers of the country, cartoonists and artists Morshed Mishu, Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy and Masuda Khan and magician Asif Asgar. They spent time with the children and participated in many activities.
Inside the Play Lab Model
The Play Lab Model assists usually 1-5 years old children to learn through diverse play-based activities. The Brac Play Lab model is particularly community-based, of high quality and cost-effective, so that joyful learning opportunities can be created for children with socioeconomically constrained situations, according to organizers.
This model follows a play-based curriculum, for developing social-emotional learning, self-regulation, language, playfulness, creativity, empathy and problem-solving skills in children. The play labs are facilitated by “play leaders” who are local adolescent girls and young women and extensively trained in their facilitators' role.
Apart from Brac operated Play Labs, the organization has provided technical assistance to the Bangladesh government to establish 400 Play Lab centres in 32 upazilas (sub-districts) of nine districts with over 25 thousand children participating. On the other hand, Brac is running 656 play lab centres in Bangladesh, Tanzania and Uganda involving around 11,500 children.
Brac has also developed an especially designed “humanitarian play lab” model for children in humanitarian emergency settings in conflict or post-conflict zones. This model is currently being implemented in the camps of Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar district.
Brac is also operating such context and culture specific play labs in Uganda for children from refugee families taken shelter from neighbouring countries.
The humanitarian play lab model explores the therapeutic dimensions of play to foster resilience and healing process among the survivor children. The humanitarian play labs provide the Rohingya children with a space to play and express their emotions freely which, in turn, helps them feel safe. The design of these play labs reflect Rohingya culture and nurture children's spontaneity.
Learning through play is crucial for ECD
A global survey has found that 84% children want their parents to spend more time playing with them. Specialists observe that learning through play is a critical component in early childhood development and education.
The Brac Play Labs are built in a cost-effective process with locally available resources and reusable materials reflecting the local culture and language, and socio-economic and geographic contexts. Local community and parents are closely involved in the play lab centre operation.
The LEGO Foundation launched the #BuildaWorldofPlay campaign early this year on the occasion of its 90th founding anniversary. Brac, as its partner, has joined the campaign, also as a part of its 50th anniversary celebration, in Bangladesh, Uganda and Tanzania focusing on the local context.