Teach kids
about child labour
while playing
Zuiderzeemuseum Enkhuizen NL
More than 22,000 children were put to work in the "Lekker Werken" (Enjoy Working) street at the Zuiderzee Museum, learning about child labor. The annual theme at the Zuiderzee Museum in 2022 was "Children and the Zuiderzee". For this theme, we designed and implemented a captivating attraction in the outdoor area of the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen.
Inspired by information about child labor around the Zuiderzee, we created an interactive playground depicting various tasks that children used to perform. In the "Lekker Werken" street, we blurred the line between play and work, allowing visitors to peel shrimp, churn butter, chase ships, and do laundry.
The play equipment, accompanied by encouraging commentary and light effects, encouraged hard work, but it wasn't easy. Shrimp peeling had to be done quickly, and turning the washing machines was quite heavy. This allowed visitors to learn about child labor in a playful way.
At the end of the street, everyone was rewarded for their work with a work certificate. This certificate compared their efforts to the work children did around 1900, providing insight into how challenging it could be for children.
With the Child Labor Credit Card in hand – which visitors could use to activate the machines and earn points – thousands of children worked together to make a donation to the Kartini Foundation. This foundation works to send children in Java to school.
By working hard, we have collectively ensured that more and more children in Indonesia can go to school and do not have to work!
Many thanks to the Zuiderzeemuseum and their team, the Eerste Hollandse Ideeënfabriek, Nout van Heumen, Peter Uithoven, Studio Merike & Lagom Film.