The purpose of the TOY Programme is to promote intergenerational learning and create new possibilities for older adults and young children to learn together and benefit from each others’ company. We believe that this is more important than ever before in all continents of the world.
People are living longer but older adults and young children are having less and less contact with each other. Parents and grandchildren are migrating to cities and countries far away from grandparents. For many grandparents it is also sometimes difficult to keep in touch with grandchildren. Other reasons for the lack of contact between old and young is that in many countries, older adults are living in old peoples’ homes where they rarely see children and many young children are spending their days with their own age group in day care centres, pre-schools and schools.
The TOY Programme originated in the EU funded TOY Project (2012-2014) which took place in seven countries: Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal. The TOY Project was unique amongst European intergenerational learning projects with its explicit focus on children in the early childhood years – 0 to 8 years. The Project brought together the two ends of the lifelong learning spectrum - early childhood education and activities for older adults. In collaboration with universities, NGOs and municipalities we researched, documented and supported learning initiatives involving young children and older adults in Europe.
The TOY Project demonstrated clear benefits of learning together for both young children and older adults and for communities at large. This included mutual understanding, improved feelings of wellbeing, decreased loneliness and satisfaction from sharing knowledge and experience with children and enhanced social cohesion.
At this TOY station, we strive to bring everyone together by offering optional music lessons. Students will be taught a variety of topics, including musical notation, scales, playing or singing technique, and more! All instruments will be supplied by our donors, but participants can bring their own if they wish. Older adults who wish to volunteer can contact us at 123-456-7890, some musical knowledge is required for volunteers who would like to teach however. Interested parents can contact us at 123-456-7890 and fill out the application form on our website. If you have any questions about our address, hours, etc. please contact us by calling 123-456-7890.