THE KIDS CHEER WHEN I TELL THEM THAT WE ARE GOING TO “PLAY” ON THE FLOOR, BECAUSE THAT’S EXACTLY HOW THEY SEE IT: LEARNING IS ALL FUN AND GAMES!

These days, the students from Ølsted School jump and play their way through learning on ActiveFloors interactive learning floor. Shortly after returning to school 100 students were able to use the floor for the first time – all thanks to their parents’ amazing level of commitment and involvement.

At the opening ceremony of ActiveFloor in August, colourful balloons were hanging from the ceiling, the kiddie champagne was bubbling in the glasses and the red carpet had been rolled out where the red ribbon was to be cut.

“We had such a nice time. The parents came and we had gone shopping and decorated – we really wanted to show how happy we were for getting an ActiveFloor”, tells Mette Kjær, head of the preschool class 0.

The idea came half a year ago, when a couple of the teachers who wanted to bring more movement into their teaching went to have a talk with the school board. The teachers had had an alphabet on the ground in mind, but the school board had thought they should “think bigger”, and in that way, the idea of an interactive floor was introduced.

“I made a post on Facebook where I asked if anyone in my network knew anything about interactive floors. The school in the neighbouring district responded and invited us to come and have a look at their ‘ActiveFloor’. After that, we wanted one for ourselves!”, tells Mette

Then, during a school dance, some parents were quick to take the lead and start a fundraiser and collect money through an auction and various donations from local businesses.

“One of the kids’ father took a particular active role. It was a bit of an uphill battle because a lot of people turned him down, but suddenly he called and told me that he had now collected 53.000 DKK”, tells Mette Kjær