The program enables the youngest children to learn about nature and technology through play / Campuskinder certified for the sixth time already
Kindergarten director Martin Fulst on the left, standing Dr. Andrea Handke, Hannover Region, and Martina Saurin, MHH vice president, on the right. Copyright: Karin Kaiser / MHH
15.03.2023
What does a switch actually do? What conducts electricity and what doesn't? How many insects live on the grounds of the daycare center? Why does the street get so hot in the summer? And how do ships float on the ocean? The federally funded foundation "Haus der kleinen Forscher" (House of Little Scientists) uses experiments and illustrative work materials to introduce daycare children to mathematics, information technology, science and technology (STEM) and education for sustainable development (ESD) in a playful way. The Campuskinder daycare center at Hannover Medical School (MHH) has been certified as a "House of Little Scientists" for the sixth time - and is currently the only daycare center in Lower Saxony to be among the finalists for the 2023 German Daycare Center Award. Dr. Andrea Handke, head of the Hannover Region's Department of Social Affairs, Participation, Family and Youth, presented the certification certificate today (Wednesday) to Martina Saurin, vice president of the MHH, who is responsible for business management and administration. "It takes a dedicated team of educators to spark curiosity in preschool children and encourage them to ask questions. At Campus Children, everyone obviously enjoys this, and recognition through the certificate rewards the team's efforts," Martina Saurin emphasized.
Offerings are integrated into the daycare center's daily routine
In advanced training courses, daycare professionals learn how to awaken children's thirst for research and accompany them in an age-appropriate manner. Under the title "Netzwerk Forscher-Kids Region Hannover" (Hanover Region Researchers' Kids Network), the Hanover Region is a cooperation partner of the foundation, organizes the training courses, finances the personnel and material costs and certifies the participating daycare centers and elementary schools. "We create the framework, provide the space and the opportunities for children to develop their natural thirst for knowledge. Scientific phenomena and experimentation in particular ensure that learning and experience are much more active. The training courses help us to constantly integrate new offers into the day-to-day life of the daycare center and we are very grateful for this," explains the head of the daycare center, Martin Fulst. "At the MHH, this means cutting-edge research from an early age!"
The "Haus der kleinen Forscher" foundation has been active throughout Germany since 2006 and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The non-profit foundation supports the scientific education of children in daycare centers and elementary schools with its offerings, and participating institutions can have themselves certified as "Haus der kleinen Forscher" (House of Little Researchers). It is awarded for two years, after which facilities can reapply.