The eTwinning project Nordic Water Adventures of Vuokkokujan päiväkoti has been awarded with an European quality label.


Learning together about the project topic “water”
In the eTwinning project, 4-5-year-old children from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland learned together about the project topic “water”. The participating children also had the possibility to learn about the Nordic countries. The photos, videos, vocabulary cards and other material shared during the project period offered a nice way to get to know the Nordic countries. The project mascot Rejne visited all participating kindergartens. Rejne participated together with the children in the different project activities connected with the topic “water”. Children participated online in Rejne’s adventures around the Nordic countries. 


Environmental education in eTwinning
The eTwinning project Nordic Water Adventures supported environmental education goals outlined in the early childhood education curriculum: The goal of environmental education is to strengthen children's connection to nature and responsible behavior in the environment, and to guide them towards a sustainable lifestyle. Environmental education includes three dimensions: learning in the environment, learning about the environment, and acting on behalf of the environment. 

The local natural and built environments are both objects of learning and learning environments. Hiking and exploring the environment in nature and the built environment are an important part of early childhood education. Through positive experiences, children learn to enjoy nature and the local environment, and their relationship with the environment strengthens. In the project, natural phenomena were observed with different senses and at different times of the year. They were discussed with children and explored. At the same time, the use of concepts related to the environment was learned. 

The following aspects of the early childhood education curriculum were also realized in this project: Children should be encouraged to get to know other people, languages, and cultures. Making multilingualism visible supports children's development in a culturally diverse world. Cooperation with other actors, as well as physical and virtual visits, enrich children's learning environments. In the eTwinning project, this was achieved by exploring the pictures and videos shared by our project partners. One of the activities in our project was learning water vocabulary in English and Nordic languages. The children were able to see what the Nordic countries look like and what children in different countries do during their daycare day.

Making learning fun
The project aimed to empower children by giving them a significant role in shaping the project and its direction. The project also aimed to make learning fun and the participating teachers wanted to ensure that learning about water is enjoyable and engaging. One of the project objectives was to foster appreciation and to help children understand the importance of clean water and avoid taking it for granted. The participating teachers wanted to offer children the possibility to explore water, and they provided varied experiences with water in different forms. One of the project objectives was to build vocabulary in order to teach water-related vocabulary in multiple languages.