The Asylum Center of Rotterdam exists since 2015 and is built in reaction to the huge increase of asylum seekers in 2015 in Europe. This Asylum Center is mainly focused on families. The waiting time depends on the country of origin and can be arranged in a couple of months as well in a couple of years. So, the children who live here have often spent a big part of their childhood in this kind of places, waiting on a definitive answer in order to ‘restart’ their live.
After the research of the play interventions in the refugees camp of Duinkerk we explored further what child-directed play can mean for refugees children in asylum centers. How loose part play and the construction toy out of waste material can strengthen them? How that building and creating together temporary child space stimulates social cohesion? How playing together have positive influence on the development of children? What do we need to create a start point that stimulates play, imagination and curiosity in this space?
This research questions developed into different play interventions and workshops at the asylum center of Rotterdam. Where we used different waste materials and the construction toy to create child-directed play spaces. The play interventions had extreme positive effect on the children, their development and their behavior. The research and outcomes is used for further development of the Loose part play Kart, Nüdel Kart.
The play interventions are supervised by Cami Laureyssens, Jeanne Ribbens, Siebe Geens and Emma Ribbens. Clara Braeckman and Gillis Cornelis documented the play interventions. This is a short trailer about it.