The treasure of Helix Felix

Project

269804

Status

Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

The treasure of Helix Felix

Full concept/idea title

Description

The treasure of Helix Felix is an educational kit which consists of an interactive book, boards, notebooks, sound boxes, tracking templates and stamps. Stimulating children through play, storytelling, and creative activities, but above all to encourage them to have experiences involving all their senses will serve to open their minds, stimulate their potential, unleash their genius and help them learn while having fun.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

According to Maria Montessori and Bruno Munari, multi-sensory exploration in experimentation and play can enable children to expand their knowledge and make them feel and perceive with their fingers the materials the child sees, help them develop their tactile sense and achieve a deeper and more lasting understanding and knowledge. So the concept of the project is to make children learn by playing through the sensory experiences offered by an educational kit. Inside the book there are five different Helix Felix scenarios. Children can detach the silhouettes from the boards and build cardboard models of all the characters in the book. Simply place or move them in the chosen scenario to simulate the activities of little animals or invent many new adventures with imagination for the snails that live in Helix Felix. Two accordion notebooks, one is made up of blank pages and another is made up of many paper bags that serve to carry scattered drawings, Polaroid photos and also to collect skeleton leaves, dry leaves etc., which invite the children to observe, explore and learn about the nature around them. This educational kit helps children to learn to observe, explore, imagine and express by engaging children's five senses, imagination and creation.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

The Helix Felix educational kit for children has been designed around Agenda 2030, also known as the the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), defined by the United Nations as a strategy "to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all people". This educational kit will be produced only with simple, low-cost and eco-friendly materials, e.g. the book, boards, notebooks and packaging will be made from recycled papers, and the boxes, tracking templates and stamps will use  wood, natural rubber and non-toxic ink. This book is not only a snail's tale, but also a propaganda for Helix Felix products and a communication of sustainability concepts that makes children aware of sustainability solutions from an early age. Children can detach the cut-out templates from the boards and then compose and build the character models from the book with their own hands. The interlocking templates add fun to this interactive book and are also a sustainable and interactive solution compared to the stickers or plastics on the market because they are eco-friendly, decomposable and reusable.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

The book of the educational kit illustrates five Helix Felix snail farm scenarios in which children can discover and explore the world of snails while perceiving the beauty of nature. Children can also learn about and reflect from an early age on the sustainable solutions adopted by Helix Felix and gain a respectful attitude towards animals and nature. The five scenarios are varied and belong to the different seasons in which plants, animals and many others are illustrated. The first scenario shows the outdoor field of Helix Felix in which the snail and its predator, a small bird. The second shows the Helix Felix vegetable garden scenario in which the snails calmly eat using their sense organs.  The third scenario shows that during the warmer months, when everyone is awake, the snails fall asleep, hiding in the shadows of tall grass, under rocks and leaves, waiting for night. The fourth scenario is in the Helix Felix garden where the snails gather in clusters at the very ends of the enclosure, close themselves tightly on each other's shells and wait for the heavy heat to pass. The last scenario demonstrates the terrain of Helix Felix in autumn. In Helix Felix the snail shells are used as a natural  fertiliser to give calcium to the soil and twigs, grass clippings, fallen leaves and other plant and other plant waste are used to make compost. The educational kit uses natural, sustainable materials and is free of harmful substances, making it low impact on the environment and safe for children.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

This educational kit which is designed for all little ones with a passion for animals and nature has an idea of stimulating each child's imagination, of never making them feel lonely especially in the post-covid period and to make parents spend time together with their children. For example, through the book, which consists of five scenarios to play, children can get to know the world of snails and other animals living in Helix Felix by simulating their activities, and develop their imagination and creativity by creating lots of different stories of snail in a single game. These series of activities can be done spontaneously or with help from a parent. The reading of this book becomes a real experience. Not only a game, therefore, but also an educational tool to support children in difficult moments such as the one we are living in.  

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

This interactive book in the educational kit turns reading into a playful and inventive adventure with inexhaustible creative possibilities. Children can place the model characters on the horizontally unfolded page of the chosen scenario and move them along nature trails, e.g. the child can make the snail walk along the grass to find the tastiest cabbage leaves in Helix Felix's farm to simulate his activities. The child can even mix up the characters by using the scenario as a stage to tell a new story with their own invention and imagination, move them around and the story progresses.

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

Our project concept has been designed especially for Helix Felix and can be realised in cooperation with the three young persons of this cooperative venture Helix Felix. It can be published on the official website of Helix Felix by accepting the product reservation. This pre-sale mode will help them optimise production planning by allowing consumers to select product from the virtual catalogue for which a forthcoming release on the market is planned and to make an advance purchase. It will then proceed to the production of prototypes and small batches. In addition to online sales, this product can be integrated into future guided tours at Helix Felix. On the farm, children can spend a day in the countryside in close contact with nature. The Helix Felix team can organise guided tours by inviting families to visit Helix Felix or by cooperating with the school. They will be able to take them to see the snails and the vegetable garden and will explain to them about cultivation, synergistic heliculture through field exploration and reading this book. The children will stroke the snails, see the snails eating lettuce and taste the snail chips, which are not just snacks but real experiences. The educational kit can also be sold together with Helix Felix products such as snail chips on the farm.

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.