About 70 little ones from White City, Snake Park, and Dobsonville enjoyed an educational day at the Roodepoort Museum on Tuesday, 7 June 2022, as part of the Early Childhood Development programme at the museum.
As the little ones walk through the museum, they all spotted happy and curious faces.
The programme has been running for three years and aims to develop young children through education, interaction, play and creative sessions to help build knowledge and understanding of the world around them. The children learn more about history, geography, general knowledge, and vocabulary through the programme.
“I’m happy,” said one of the little ones while jumping to show his excitement before his class entered the museum.
Carolina Geldenhuys, the Senior Curator at Roodepoort Museum, said such visits allow the children to learn more about the development and history of the times.
The tour started with a display at the entrance where the children could see their own work of houses they built out of paper, boxes, and other materials. Thereafter, they enjoyed a tour through the entire museum, and even saw the development of toys throughout the years. It also included a tour through the theatre and concluded with traditional games.
Geldenhuys said it’s important to expose children to history because it’s a way for them to understand a variety of concepts and understand “I’m here today because of a past event and it gives you a sense of pride”.
Other educational points of the day were the green environment, identity building, and social cohesion. “We help each other, learn from each other, and we’re different,” said Geldenhuys.
The collection at the Roodepoort Museum details the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand, the Struben brothers and the main reef, the importance of the discovery and the changes it brought, and local government history.
“It was the reason we developed into a city from a farming community,” said Geldenhuys.
She describes a visit to a museum as pure “museum magic” because visitors were seeing the real thing as opposed to pictures or book.
Raphelang Simente, from Young Voice Academy, said it’s a great feeling to see a child’s face light up when they learn something new. He said that’s why he got involved in community activities and outreach programmes. He wanted to expose his community to new experiences.
The Roodepoort Museum is open by appointment only. Call 011 761 0226 to make a booking.
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