TOY Newsletter #14

Issue nr. 14 - 04/07/2019

In this issue read all the latest news from the TOY Programme such as a new video and a robot that connects young children and older adults to read stories together, as well as stories of impact and new publications.

Latest News

Next TOY Online Course starts on 14 October

Almost 500 learners from all parts of the world have already participated in the TOY Online Course on intergenerational learning. The next Course, which will include updated resource material, begins on 14 October 2019. Registration is possible from 2 September 2019 via the TOY Online Course webpage

For more inspiration, watch the video commissioned by the Erasmus+ National Agency in the Netherlands about the making of the TOY Online Course and how this has had an impact on Leergaloos, an intergenerational initiative in the Netherlands.

The development of the TOY Online Course was funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Programme.

Stories from TOY for Inclusion

TOY for Inclusion goes from strength to strength and continues to attract attention of both policy makers and community members of all ages who want to make a real difference in the lives of young children. Read this inspirational story about one extended family in Murska Sobota, Slovenia who has benefitted from TOY for Inclusion.

It is clear that that municipalities are also championing the TOY for Inclusion approach. This was evident in the enthusiastic support of the Municipality of Sisak in Croatia during the recent international training event which took place in the TOY for Inclusion Play Hub in Sisak in May 2019.

TOY for Inclusion trainers and local action team coordinators from seven countries participated in the training event.

TOY for Inclusion is coordinated by ICDI and funded by Erasmus+ Programme and Open Society Foundations (OSF).

First initiatives awarded TOY for Quality membership

The TOY for Quality Programme is for services and initiatives interested in assessing and improving the quality of their intergenerational activities and programmes.

We are delighted to announce that the following organisations have successfully completed the TOY for Quality Programme:

Italy

- La Créche snc (day care centre);

- Scuola Infanzia Primavera di Barzanò (a kindergarten);

- Rsa F.lli Nobili Onlus (a care centre for older adults)

Spain

- Escola Bressol Municipal Ronda la Mercè (ECEC centre) in Lleida

Congratulations to all involved.

“As a result of participating in TOY for Quality we are now much more active in communicating to families and other organisations in the community about how all generations benefit from intergenerational practice”. Silvia Porta, Manager of La Créche snc

If you are interested in participating in the TOY for Quality Programme, please contact us at info@toyproject.net. Find more information about TOY for Quality Programme here.

TOY and the Storytellers Project

The Storytellers Project is a concept for a new library service connecting a community of senior readers to children and their families through remote reading aloud sessions. Children use the Storybell robot at home to connect with seniors willing to read. The Storybell robot transmits their reading live allowing them to speak as if they were on the phone. The Project began as a self-initiated side project of interaction designer Laura Boffi, who has recently received financial support from the EU project Designscapes for initial fieldwork and co-creation with TOY to further develop the concept. Read more about the Storyteller Project and the findings of the feasibility study here.

New publications

TOY Blog

The latest TOY blogpost features a new book about a social grandmother, written by Dutch author Nathalie van den Thillart. Read Nathalie’s blog here.

We have more inspirational blogposts in the pipeline for the coming months. If you have an interesting story or initiative about intergenerational practice involving young children and older adults and would like to submit a post, please contact us.

TOY Book to be published by Routledge by end 2019!

We are also delighted to announce that Intergenerational Learning in Practice; Together Old and Young a 14 chapter book written by experts in the field of IGL from Europe, North America and Australia and edited by Margaret Kernan and Giulia Cortellesi will be published by Routledge - Taylor & Francis. More information about this exciting publication to come in the next edition of the TOY Newsletter in the Autumn.

You can already pre-order a copy of the book with a special discount. Click here to know more.

Events

TOY around the world

The month of June saw TOY featuring in many important international events.

We presented the TOY for Quality Programme at the Generations United Conference in Portland, Oregon (USA). This event was a great opportunity to meet with experts on intergenerational learning from all parts of the world. Read the report of the Conference here.

TOY for Quality Programme and the latest stories of impact from the TOY for Inclusion project were also presented at the ISSA International Conference, ‘Nurturing Environments for the Wellbeing of Young Children and their Families’, which this year took place in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Another important June happening for TOY was that World Health Organisation (WHO) selected TOY for Inclusion as a good practice in promoting social and human capital for health equity and it was presented at the WHO Health Equity Conference in Slovenia.

Contacts

On the TOY website we commit to provide current and ground-making news, research and developments about the world of intergenerational learning involving young children and older adults. If you have a news item you would like to share with us, please contact us at:

International Child Development Initatives- ICDI

Margaret Kernan and Giulia Cortellesi

info@toyproject.net

www.toyproject.net