Takalani Sesame, the children’s educational brand, proudly announced the launch of a series of regional play festivals, the first of which was held today at Brixton Multipurpose Centre, Gauteng, and the remaining scheduled for the Eastern Cape and Free State as part of its ongoing efforts to promote the importance of play-based learning.
The Takalani Sesame Play Festival series, hosted in partnership with the Gauteng, Free State, and Eastern Cape Departments of Education, the LEGO Foundation, and the Oak Foundation, aims to empower parents and caregivers with knowledge and skills to engage their children in playful activities that foster learning and creativity.
Play is a fundamental aspect of a child’s growth and development, and research has shown that play-based learning can have a positive impact on a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. By incorporating play into everyday routines, parents and caregivers can create opportunities for their children to learn and explore the world around them.
The Takalani Sesame Play Festivals Series for 2024 aims to harness the crucial role that parents and caregivers can play, in the home setting, to support children’s learning through play and help them develop holistically and be better prepared for formal schooling in Grade R or Grade 1.
Mari Payne, Deputy Managing Director and Senior Director of Education and Outreach at Sesame Workshop International South Africa (SWISA) says that through these events, Takalani Sesame aims to engage with parents and caregivers directly, providing them with practical ideas and strategies to enhance their child’s learning through play.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the Gauteng, Free State, and Eastern Cape Departments of Education, the LEGO Foundation, and the Oak Foundation to bring this exciting series of play festivals to our communities,” said Payne. “Our goal is to create an environment where parents and caregivers can learn about the power of play-based learning, connect with other families, and have a lot of fun in the process,” Payne, added.
The Gauteng Department of Basic Education (GDE) emphasises that play is not just a leisure activity but a fundamental part of early childhood education. GDE Director for ECD, Ms Phumelele Tloubatla says, “It is our honour to be partnering with Takalani Sesame on this initiative, bringing to the forefront the fundamental way in which children learn about the world around them.
One of the highlights of the Takalani Sesame Play Festivals Series for 2024 will be conducting mini play workshops and play demonstrations with parents. Through these sessions, parents and caregivers will also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and a deeper understanding of the newly launched Takalani Sesame WhatsApp chatbot. The chatbot will provide literacy, numeracy, and general learning activities that families can continue to use after the festivals.
By participating in these play festivals, parents and caregivers will have a unique opportunity to learn, connect, and exchange ideas with other parents, educators, and experts in the field of early childhood education. These festivals will serve as platforms for sharing best practices, innovative ideas, and strategies for fostering learning through play.
The main portion of the Play Festivals will consist of various interactive play stations, which will be set up throughout the event space, allowing families to rotate through and engage in a variety of play-based learning activities. These play stations were designed and facilitated by the Takalani Sesame team, drawing on the beloved characters and educational content from the show.
Some examples of the play station activities include:
- Storytelling and literacy-focused stations held by Nalibali, where children can interact with age-appropriate storybooks and participate in interactive read-aloud sessions led by the facilitators.
- Numeracy and problem-solving stations, operated by Cotlands, featuring hands-on math games and activities.
- Creative expression stations managed by the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance, where children can engage in arts and crafts, music, and imaginative play.
- Physical activity stations by Sportstec, encouraging gross motor skills development through movement-based games and challenges.
- Sensory exploration stations from The Unlimited Child, allowing children to engage their senses through tactile, auditory, and visual experiences.
- Technology and science station by Sci bono, where children can engage in hands on science experiments and interact with technology-enabled learning tools under the guidance of the facilitators.
- LEGO bricks station run by Sesame Workshop, where children can engage in creative and constructive play using LEGO bricks and sets, with support from the facilitators to guide learning through the building process.
- Active learning workshop facilitated by Seriti to educate parents on the importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and how to actively support their child’s growth.
- Making toys from waste workshop held by Cotlands to engage families in a creative challenge to make educational toys from recycled materials, guided by facilitators throughout the design and construction process.
- National Parenting Programme workshop, facilitated by the Gauteng Department of Education, designed to provide parents with essential information on nurturing their children and ensuring that every child receives the best possible start in life.
- An interactive WhatsApp chatbot experience facilitated by Sesame Workshop for families to access educational content and activities to use post-event.
By offering a variety of interactive play stations, the Play Festivals aim to provide a multifaceted, immersive learning experience that engages children and parents/caregivers alike.
There will also be a “community showcase” area, where local organisations and service providers related to early childhood education and family support can set up information booths.
Payne explains the objective of the events are to:
- increase confidence and skills of parents and caregivers in facilitating play-based learning activities that support their children’s holistic development and school readiness,
- improve the understanding among parents and caregivers of the educational value of play and its role in supporting children’s learning and development,
- and to introduce the Takalani Sesame WhatsApp chatbot so parents and caregivers can access information and support on play-based learning.
The festivals will take place across the provinces in the following areas
- Johannesburg, Brixton Multipurpose Centre, Friday, 13 September
- Eastern Cape: Police Park Cricket Stadium, Friday, 04 October
- Bloemfontein, Free State, Friday 25 October
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to attend one of the Takalani Sesame Play Festivals to experience firsthand the benefits of play-based learning. The series will provide a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their child’s learning experience through play.
Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with educational and fun activities, meet and interact with Takalani Sesame characters, and explore an exhibition of LEGO® bricks and Takalani Sesame play materials.
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About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street and so much more. For over 50 years, we have worked at the intersection of education, media, and research, creating joyful experiences that enrich minds and expand hearts, all in service of empowering each generation to build a better world. Our beloved characters, iconic shows, outreach in communities, and more bring playful early learning to families in more than 150 countries and advance our mission to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Takalani Sesame, the South African adaptation of Sesame Street launched in 2000.
Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org and follow Sesame Workshop on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok.
Find and follow Takalani Sesame on Facebook,X, Instagram, YouTube and via the website.
About the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is one of the 14 provincial government departments which make up the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG). Our role, as guided by the South African Schools Act of 1996, is to ensure the delivery of quality basic education for Gauteng’s children through innovative teaching and learning methods, ensuring that every learner feels valued and inspired. Through our 2 200 schools, the GDE provides quality teaching and learning, from early childhood to matric, to more than 2.6-million learners. The GDE is also one of the most technologically savvy education departments in the country, from offering innovative online admissions for entry level grades (Grade 1 & 8) to providing teaching through paperless classrooms. We are further committed to protecting and promoting the right of every learner to quality, equitable and relevant education
About Cotlands
Cotlands is a registered non-profit organisation that focuses on early childhood development with a rich heritage of 88 years of experience in serving young, vulnerable children. Cotlands’ vision is to see children thrive in their formative years by increasing their access to play-based early learning opportunities. Cotlands provides scalable and cost-effective toy libraries and early learning playgroups targeted at children from birth to six years. In 2019 Cotlands developed an e-learning platform called CotlandsIgnite® to build skilled capacity in the ECD sector by offering accredited online ECD courses to learners. Launching the e-learning platform was a major step towards filling the skills gap in the ECD sector. The organisation also offers workshops to parents enabling them to conduct play-based learning and best practice principles in their home environments.
For more information on Cotlands, visit: www.cotlands.org. To donate to our cause, visit: https://www.cotlands.org/donation/
About Nal’ibali
Nal’ibali, which means “here’s the story” in isiXhosa, is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign that seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading in children from birth to 12 years of age across South Africa, through cultivating enticing reading content in all South African languages. Nal’ibali promotes the use of home languages in nurturing and strengthening reading culture in children as home language is transparent, easy to learn and is the first language that children connect with in order to socialise and make sense of the world around them. Nal’ibali stories build a healthy ongoing appetite in children to engage more with reading, and to develop other important literacy skills while creating their own reading experiences.
About Seriti
Seriti is a non-profit organisation established in 2009. We build resilient communities, powering futures. Our mission is to help vulnerable people stand on their own two feet so that they can build meaningful lives for themselves and their families. Our aRe Bapaleng (Let’s Play) programme addresses the critical gap in supporting a child’s early years of development (aged 0-8), focusing on the parent’s and caregivers’ roles. The project is dedicated to empowering parents and caregivers in underserved communities by providing the necessary skills, tools, and resources to understand their crucial role in shaping their child’s life. The objective is to foster an ecosystem of support in early childhood development (ECD) that nurtures children to become future-fit. We have supported 30,314 parents and caregivers, worked with 821 ECD centres, helped benefit 69,395 children, and collaborated with 15 local implementing partners and 11 enabling partners. The programme has run 112 in-community awareness campaigns. 85% of beneficiaries have been youth, and 77% have been mothers. Seriti is a partner of the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) and a member of the International Step-by-Step Association (ISSA) and is presenting the programme at their upcoming 2024 conference in Bulgaria”
About Sportstec
Founded in 2006, Sportstec is an award-winning international youth development agency based in South Africa, operating internationally. We have a proven track record in using sport to address the requirements of organisations seeing value in building brand purpose and sustainability through meaningful interventions that support sport for social change, youth development and well-being. Our team consists of expert coaches, facilitators, strategists, and doers from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. We believe in the positive power of sport, play and leadership. Our balanced approach allows us to connect high-level strategy with on the ground needs. We are anchored by our core values, providing programming that gives young people a sense of belonging, resulting in the connection of our partners to communities that are important to them, through relationships, trust and empowerment.
About Sci-Bono
Sci-Bono is the largest science centre in Southern Africa. It is a Non-Profit Company, set up by the Gauteng Department of Education and local donors to assist in the delivery of Mathematics, Science and Technology education in the province. Sci-Bono is located in the old Electric Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg. The name ‘Sci-Bono’ comes from an abbreviation of ‘Science’ and ‘Bono’, the Tshivenda word for ‘vision’, a reflection of its mission to inspire insight into all aspects of Science and Technology.
About The Unlimited Child.
The Unlimited Child, founded in 2008, is an innovative non-profit organisation (NPO) committed to revolutionizing early childhood education in marginalised areas. By empowering educators and caregivers with essential tools and knowledge, the organization aims to support comprehensive child development, enabling every child to achieve their maximum potential. The Unlimited Child is a registered public benefits organisation (PBO), non-profit company (NPC); and accredited with the ETDP SETA for skills development training.
About The Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance (NPC)
The Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance (AREA) consists of advocates for the promotion and defence of children’s rights. Its mission is to work towards a better future for children in South Africa by providing professional development on the Reggio Emilia approach to education. This socio-constructive rights-based approach is renowned for its belief in the rich potential of all children and in their ability to build their own understanding of the world around them in relationship with others and their environment. AREA is the official reference point for the Reggio Emilia approach in Africa, as appointed by Reggio Children in Reggio Emilia, Italy and is a member of the Reggio Children International Network. AREA provides professional development on the Reggio Emilia approach for educators in varied early childhood development settings, highlighting creative, engaging, and meaningful education which has inspired educators worldwide for many years.
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