Thousands of vulnerable children to receive handmade toys on Mandela Day

Toys made from upcycled household materials will be handed to more than 12,500 children in under-resourced communities on Tuesday in keeping with Mandela Day initiatives.

The day marks the late former statesman Nelson Mandela's birthday and encourages South Africans to dedicate time to charitable causes.

With the toy drive, the Do More Foundation NPO and more than 800 RCL Foods employees from 20 sites have come together to create upcycled toys for children in under-resourced communities through the “Built to Play” campaign.

Play packs containing toys made from upcycled household materials will be distributed to 255 early childhood development centres in communities in need. 

The packs include items such as puppets made from socks, colourful characters created from plastic bottle tops and counting fish crafted from cardboard packaging. 

Singakwenza, a non-profit organisation that trains caregivers, designed the toys to support the facilitation of fun and educational play, enabling young children to develop essential foundational skills through recycling-based resources.

“The selection of play pack contents is intentional and targets areas of early child development, including gross motor co-ordination, fine motor and visual co-ordination, cognitive and executive functioning and more.

“These areas are particularly crucial as a significant percentage of South African children face challenges in these domains,” said Iris Naidoo, the foundation's partnerships manager.

Statistics from the Thrive by Five Index 2022 indicate more than half of South African children aged four and five years attending early learning programmes struggle to meet expected learning tasks for their age group.

The recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) revealed the disheartening reality that 81% of grade 4 pupils in South Africa lack reading comprehension skills in any language.

“Early childhood development is the foundation for reading skills, underscoring the critical importance of stimulating learning and play materials,” said Naidoo.

“Through play children learn to draw conclusions, reason, generate creative ideas and develop patience. Play also helps children understand and process their emotions, teaching them valuable skills in managing anger, sadness and grief.

“Additionally, playing fosters confidence, self-esteem and a sense of identity in children.”

She said with the initiative prioritising children's wellbeing, this serves as a pathway to sustainable development on a long-term scale. 

“Children who experience nurturing care and a conducive environment during their early years enjoy improved lifelong health outcomes, foster stronger relationships, exhibit heightened resilience and are more likely to become positive contributors to their communities and the country’s economic growth.

“The essence of play lies not in the price of toys but in the imagination they foster.”

TimesLIVE