Making children's rights come alive: Interactive learning paths in Potsdam-Mittelmark!

Making children's rights come alive: Interactive learning paths in Potsdam-Mittelmark!

There's a lot happening in the Potsdam-Mittelmark region when it comes to children's rights! The initiative to bring children's rights to life is gaining momentum and is actively involving young people. In collaboration with the German Children's Fund and Teresa Linke, the children's and youth advisory board has developed exciting learning paths that enable children to discover and understand their rights in a playful way. The first learning path was opened on September 19th at Seddiner See and is part of the multi-generational path. At various stations, awareness of key children's rights such as the right to education, protection and participation is promoted. Creative and interactive tasks not only expand knowledge, but also teach movement and consideration in a playful way.

Children's rights are not a side issue, there is a lot to it! These learning stations are designed to be child-friendly and communicate at eye level. The municipalities are required to select the locations and maintain the food banks. The costs for the individual stations, which range between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, are covered by the children's and youth advisory board. The opening ceremony took place with numerous participation activities by child and youth work organizations and generated a lot of interest. A special highlight was the family bike tour that took place in Borkheide and Borkwalde to properly celebrate children's rights. Here, students from Borkheide elementary school planned a route with ten stations, which ended in the community center with a children's disco and inclusive hands-on activities.

Interactive learning opportunities

In order to offer even more dynamic learning opportunities, the Children and Youth Office has developed a children's rights kit that is intended to inspire children aged around 8 and up. This suitcase contains many interactive methods and games for teaching UN children's rights and can be borrowed free of charge from schools, after-school care centers and children's and youth facilities in Potsdam. This includes, among other things, the board game “Are you right?”, a quiz, a taboo game and many other exciting elements. Anyone who is interested can easily contact the KiJu office by email or telephone to borrow the suitcase.

The children's rights case is part of a larger action plan for a child and youth-friendly community in Potsdam and helps to further advance the implementation of the UN children's rights, which came into force on November 20, 1989. These rights are recognized worldwide and are intended to ensure that every child enjoys their rights, regardless of where they live.

UNICEF and responsibility for children's rights

Awareness of children's rights is constantly growing, which is also reflected in the efforts of organizations such as UNICEF. This continues to campaign tirelessly for children's rights and provides a variety of teaching materials to integrate the topic of children's rights in schools. Most recently, the primary school pack 'You Have Rights' was introduced, offering a collection of downloadable materials including posters, quizzes and stories about children around the world.

These initiatives demonstrate the importance of actively involving children in the process of realizing rights and inspiring them to stand up for their rights and the rights of others. Involving children in such projects is crucial to creating awareness that extends well beyond their school years. And so these efforts not only have a positive impact on the present, but also on the future of our society.

For more information about activities in Potsdam-Mittelmark read the reports from Potsdam-Mittelmark, dem SJR Potsdam and UNICEF.