Family-Friendly Spaces 2021 Update

2021 is the 6th year we have ran our Family-Friendly Spaces (FFS) program, despite the challenges of COVID-19, 11 Chinese factories in the ICTI Ethical Toy Program (IETP) implemented their Family-Friendly Spaces program this summer; providing secure and well-equipped spaces at toy factories for children to learn and play while their parents work. The Family-Friendly Spaces program enables toy factories to bring positive impacts to working parents and their children, while at the same time, creating measurable business benefits for the factories. This year, factories thoughtfully prepared various activities for the children while keeping in mind local requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Visit this page throughout this summer to take a look at some of the activities going on at our Family-Friendly Spaces.Before the spaces open:We've gone through the steps below to build factories' knowledge on how to run the Family-Friendly Spaces program and transform the spaces into safe, colorful, and fun activity areas for children.Writing Competition 2021To encourage participating factories, working parents, and children to share their unforgettable experiences with us, IETP hosts the very first Writing Competition this year! We will select the best story received each week and publish them here, we invite you to visit this page, to join us and experience the Family-Friendly Spaces program through their eyes. Teaching Children Safety AwarenessTo ensure the safety of our children, we need to build their awareness of potential hazards. Aiming to develop their knowledge of safety precautions, a factory teamed up with medical and security staff to assist teachers in creating a Safety Awareness course for Children.The course covers a wide range of topics, including preventing drowning, water & fire safety, road & traffic safety, and more. With interactive activities such as fire drills, videos, and DIY workshops; the course improves children's sense of awareness and understanding of potential risks. The children were highly engaged during the course, they listened attentively to the teacher's debrief following the fire drills; they also created unique pieces of art inspired by the theme of personal safety. Following the positive response of the children, our teachers were glad to see they gained a lot from this safety awareness course.Thank you for the Surprises from Our Gift SponsorsIETP is grateful for the incredible support that our gift sponsors: Crayola, Disney, DK, Hallmark, Hape, LEGO® and Panley have given to this year’s Family-Friendly Spaces program. We are honored to receive these gifts that were carefully selected to inspire and enrich the children’s summer experience. The children in our Family-Friendly Spaces program were really excited to receive the surprise gifts! They loved using the new building blocks, felt inspired by the books, and enjoyed drawing some colorful pictures with their new friends. When parents are working, Family-Friendly Spaces provides a well-equipped and safe space for children to play and make friends. These generous gifts empower children to develop social skills, through interactions with one another. Once again, we would like to thank our gift sponsors. Your gifts not only bring joy to the children but also serve an important role in helping them learn and develop through play. Winning article of the weekA mother wins first prize for her article, sharing the changes in her child after attending an IETP Family-Friendly Space.To develop children’s sense of gratitude and teach them to cherish the things they have, teachers have prepared a series of activities for them. One of the inspiring activities was called “Where did I come from?”; Children were asked to put a cushion or ball under their shirts to pretend to be pregnant so that they could experience the difficulties and hardships that women with baby bumps face every day. Let’s hear the story from this mother. Topic: Thank you, mom!Winner: A working mother from C&C Joint Printing Co., LTDWith the activity “Where did I come from?”, my son got the chance to experience what it feels like to be a pregnant mother – the hardship and care required during the experience. When we returned home that day, my son proactively showed me his gratitude. In addition to expressing verbal appreciation, he also offered help to do household chores and even gave me a massage after the long day! The activity was on Tuesday, but until today (Friday) he is still happy to help out around the house. I am so moved to see these changes in my son and extremely grateful to the factory and teachers for their devotion to caring for the children.Winning article of the weekThe winner of the second week is a teacher, she shared the transformation of a shy girl named Zixin. Let’s take a look at Zixin’s story and send our best wishes for her operation. Topic: The Story of ZixinWinner: A teacher from Golden Cup Printing Co., LTDOn the first day of the Family-Friendly Spaces Program, all the children greeted me loudly and happily when we first greeted each other. However, Zixin’s seemed different, her speech was slurred so it took me a few times to understand what she was saying. When all the children introduced themselves to everyone, other children and I could hardly understand her.I observed Zixin was quite quiet, no matter what her peers were doing, she would sit to the side instead of joining in. When I looked at this lonely girl, I wanted to do something for her.One day, I got a chance to sit next to Zixin so we started chatting with each other. I started the conversation with some simple yes/ no questions, she then continued on to tell me more about her school life. Although her pronunciation was still unclear, I gradually began to understand her sentences. By hearing our laughter, more and more children came to join our conversation. I was so touched to see Zixin finally fitting in with her peers.The next day, Zixin came to me and said “This is for you, teacher”, she handed me a carton of milk, she insisted that she brought two cartons in with her and that this one was for me. I was so grateful to see her grow from a quiet girl to a brave one who reaches out to others. Two weeks later, Zixin’s mother came to request a leave of absence from the Family-Friendly Space for her due to a surgical appointment. It turned out that Zixin has an enlarged tonsil which affects her ability to speak clearly, they would like to have the surgery during the summer holiday so that she would recover before school starts. We wish Zixin a successful surgery! Get well soon and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Family-Friendly Space in the future! Winning article of the weekThe winner of the third week is a child who joined the Family-Friendly Spaces this summer. In the article, he shared the lesson that interested him the most at the Family-Friendly Space. Let's read in his own words to see what kind of lesson surprised and impressed him the most during the summer vacation? Topic: An Unforgettable LessonWinner: A child from Gold Eagle Printing Co., LtdIt was my first time participating in the Family-Friendly Program which my mother's factory provided. I learned lots of things here, such as painting, handicraft, music, dancing and lots more; but my favorite was the craft class taught by Miss Wang.In this class, we learned to make our own pen holder using a toilet paper roll. Sequins, yarns, accessories in both heart and flower shapes were provided so we could make our own unique pen holder. Miss Wang gave us detailed step-by-step instructions, so it was easy for us to follow. To make the pen holder, first, we needed to prepare the bottom of it by cutting a circle that was a little bigger than the roll and then cut slits around the circle rim. Next, we needed to stick all the slips inside the roll with double-sided tape. Ta-da! The pen holder is finished! When the pen holder was ready, it was time to decorate it with my favorite sequins and accessories. The decorated pen holder was so beautiful and it brought so many colors to my desk! Through this craft class, I learned that we can always make good use out of discarded materials, to create new things. Winning article of the weekThis week's winner is a child at the space sharing an interesting trip they went on outside of the classroom. Let’s see where he went, what he saw and the inspiration he got. Topic: Visiting the Assembly WorkshopWinner: A child from Combine Will (Cangwu) Industrial Co., LtdAfter the breakfast session this morning, the teachers asked us to line up and they announced they had a surprise for us. They asked us to guess what the surprise was, but no one could tell.Mr. Yan asked everyone to line up and told us we were all vising the Assembly Workshop. He asked us to walk in single file and told us not to run around and to mind our steps, especially when walking up the stairs. When Mr. Yan finished sharing the safety information we should be aware of before entering the factory, we lined up in two teams and were ready to go!I found my mom was working next to a machine that drills screws into the toy. The teacher took me closer to her, “Thank you for your great effort, mom!” I said. She smiled at me while continuing to work. I am so grateful that the teacher took a photo of us as together, as this would remind me of what she looks like at work, she looks so pretty as she works! On the way back to the classroom, Mr. Yan asked if any of us wanted to work in a toy factory when we grow up. For me, I don't want to make toys, I want to live in a big city, my dream is to be an astronaut.No matter what our dream is, we must work hard and study hard to make it happen!Winning article of the weekThe winner of this week is a mother, in addition to sharing her child’s experience at the Family-Friendly Space, she also vividly shared the excitement of her child to join the FFS. Join us to read their story:Topic: An Extraordinary Summer HolidayWinner: A mother working at C&C Joint Printing Co., LTDMy daughter joined the FFS program for the first time this year. She was so excited ever since the registering for the program, she was counting down the days until it arrived.On the first day of the program, my daughter was so excited she woke me up early that morning and said “We can’t be late, mom!”. Well, I thought that was what I was supposed to say.There are a lot of activities happening at the FFS, the gym class is great for their well-being. The teaching team organized a variety of outdoor activities for the children, some learned how to hula hoop while the others tried ball games. On the day my daughter learned how to bounce a ball, she was so proud and happy of her new accomplishment, her happiness brought such positivity to those around us. Having my daughter around made the journey home from work warm and sweet. After the gym class session, the children started reading, painting, doing their homework and playing with their favorite toys in the classroom. They all looked so angelic when focused, the peaceful moment was truly amazing.Time flew by as everyone was having so much fun, as the end of the FFS program drew closer, my daughter asked me if she could come again next year.