Inspired by real-life demands, the Da Nang-based Duc Tri Kindergarten-Primary-Junior High School has promoted the creation of toys and teaching aids made from used materials, thereby considerably inspiring the creativity in its pupils and raising their awareness of environmental protection.

Pre-school pupils playing musical instruments made from old raincoats

At the school, many children show their keen interest in playing with the toys made from old convenient raincoats by their enthusiastic teachers. 

Little girl Nguyen Ngoc Thao Vy said: “I love these toys because they are very eye-catching and colourful”. Another pupil, Phan Nhat Xuan Quynh, was very delighted at siting on the lovely rubber swing with his peers at the school.

Ms Le Thi Nga, the Principle of the Duc Tri School, is the head of the teacher group who focuses on creating items and toys made from raincoats, and from old tyres and inner tubes. Their creations aim at developing pre-school pupils’ fine motor skills.

Ms Nga noted that, it is no denying the fact that there has been an upward trend in the use of nylon raincoats which bring convenience but also produce a huge disastrous thing called ‘white pollution’.
In reality, it takes hundreds of years for these nylon products to degrade. She realise that, with their long lasting durability, nylon products can be converted into a key material used to make children’s toys.

The children going through the tubes made from old tyres

A large number of raincoats have been collected from parents and teachers for the creation of more than 14 sets of toys with rich diversity to bring fun to children of different age groups.

The creation and the use of these products have helped to raise awareness of environmental protection amongst pupils, teachers, and the community as a whole.

Ms Cai Thi Thuong, a pre-school teacher, said that the educational toys are classified effectively on the basis of different purposes. For example, in a certain Literature class, Ms Thuong usually uses colourful puppets as fairy tale characters, whilst in the Mathematics class, these lovely toys are used to teach kids to count.

The eye-catching models of some types of vehicles help children observe their characteristics and know how to differentiate between the vehicles in an effective manner, and this, in turn, gradually educate them about traffic safety.

These teaching aids really help to make lessons more fun as this move spurs the enthusiasm amongst pupils to get involved in learning process.

Notably, the set of toys made from convenient raincoats by the school’s teachers won a first prize at the 13^th Da Nang Science and Technology Innovation Contest held by the municipal Union of Science and Technology Associations, and a second prize at the 2015 Viet Nam Science and Technology Innovation Awards.

In a similar vein, the set of toys made from old tyres and inner tubes won a second prize at the 14^th Da Nang Science and Technology Innovation Contest.

The toys and teaching aids made from recycled materials are highly appreciated by the public for satisfying the criteria in terms of science, pedagogy, creativity and practicality.

Encouragingly, the use of these special products has helped the school save much money on toys for pre-school pupils.