Why is play an essential method for children’s learning? How can children actively participate in peacebuilding? Merima Razanica, Educational Program Coordinator at the War Childhood Museum, provides insightful answers to these and more questions about the museum’s workshops. Read the conversation to learn more.
What do children find most interesting in the Museum: hearing stories, playing, or talking? What feedback do you receive from them?
Merima: Children visiting the War Childhood Museum are certainly most attracted to the exhibition itself. It should also be noted that most exhibits and personal stories are easily relatable for children because they are told from the perspective of their peers, or they speak about a period of childhood similar to the one they are currently experiencing, but in different circumstances and contexts.
Moreover, children see toys, clothing, diaries, letters, and other objects similar to those they have, which automatically makes the content more relevant and relatable. The stories accompanying these objects speak about universal themes related to war childhood, such as play, education, growing up, love and family support, first crushes, significant events, and hobbies. The perspective through which the stories are told is invaluable to them, leaving a profound impression. During the storytelling, they constantly urge each other to show their peers a story and object that particularly moved them, sharing during discussions and reflections, personal memories inspired by the stories, and discussing how important our exhibition is for them. Witnessing this spontaneous and sincere exchange between children and the individuals who have entrusted their memories to the museum is truly remarkable.
Merima Razanica, an Educational Program Coordinator, joined the War Childhood Museum in 2017. She has recently received the “Peace Curator Prize for the Western Balkan Region” from the Balkan Museum Network.
How can we ensure that children learn important things, such as peacebuilding, through play?
Learning through play is crucial for young children in preschool and early primary school. Play is not just an activity but a fundamental way for children to learn right from the start. It taps into their natural abilities of imitation, imagination, creativity, and free expression, fostering deep engagement and motivation. This approach contrasts with traditional lecture-based learning, making children more eager to participate actively. Museums recognize the power of play-based learning to connect children with exhibits and spaces.
The War Childhood Museum, for example, uses specially tailored guides like “Ladybugs” and “Hummingbirds” to engage young visitors. Through activities such as role-playing, pantomime, and puzzle-solving, children explore the memories and objects of those who experienced childhood during war. These experiences cultivate empathy and understanding, prompting children to take positive actions. For instance, children at the museum might solve puzzles to uncover the story of Lejla’s aid package, encouraging them to consider the needs of children in today’s war zones. They then simulate packing an aid package, imagining what objects could bring comfort and support. This activity inspires children to create real gifts with their families or teachers, which they can donate to humanitarian organizations helping children affected by conflict. This empowers children to actively develop awareness of how their positive actions contribute to a more peaceful and improved world.
Are the peacebuilding workshops only for children’s learning, or can they teach us something too? What experiences do you have?
I will never forget the visit from students of “Hasan Kaimija” Elementary School in Sarajevo in 2019. During the visit, one seventh-grade student made a thoughtful conclusion after we watched the video from the collection and engaged in a discussion about basic human needs. He said, “Unfortunately, wars turn children’s basic needs, into desires.” After our discussion, we conducted an activity where the students had to choose someone from a local or global community who they considered a superhero of peacebuilding. Almost all of them chose this classmate and wrote essays about him, describing how he continually inspires them to seek peaceful and rational solutions. Being present at that workshop was truly a privilege for me.
As seen in this example, WMC aims to support all children in recognizing how they can be, or already are, active participants in peacebuilding processes. We want to empower and encourage them to become responsible citizens who perceive local and global events, including conflicts, with a deep awareness of their long-term and far-reaching negative consequences for children and their communities. They should be prepared to actively work towards preventing violence and conflicts, and advocate for peace and justice for all. We crave to cultivate resilience and strength in young people by giving them skills, knowledge, and support to engage with issues of war and peace. Our goal is to strengthen their empathy and desire to create a world without wars.
About 5,000 children participate in workshops at MRD annually. Why is it so important for children from all over BiH to take part in these types of workshops?
The War Childhood Museum has significant importance within both local and regional contexts. It serves as a crucial memorial space, offering a unique perspective on the wars of the 1990s through the eyes of children. This perspective is invaluable for initiating regional dialogue and reconciliation processes. In our post-conflict societies, children often inherit a burden of history they did not directly witness. They are frequently discouraged from questioning prevailing beliefs and attitudes within their communities, even when these contradict factual evidence. Consequently, children may feel unsupported, excluded, emotionally overwhelmed, and powerless when they engage with this topic. Sometimes, they are silenced, being told they have no right to discuss it because they were not born during that period. Nevertheless, they are expected to carry the weight of their families’ experiences, shared personal stories, and memories from the past, which can significantly influence their attitudes and behaviors towards “others”.
Therefore, it is crucial for children and youth from BiH, as well as the region, to learn about the negative effects of the armed conflicts of the 1990s through personal narratives, particularly those shared by children. They should grasp that these consequences are not limited to members of one national group involved in the conflict. Wars bring suffering to all who are impacted in any capacity, leaving enduring and sometimes irreparable effects on lives and entire communities. Even years later, these communities struggle to manage the weight of a past they may prefer to avoid or find difficult to address adequately.
This is one of the reasons we consider accessibility to our museum fundamental. Ensuring that our exhibitions, along with all other types of activities —especially educational ones— are inclusive and accessible to all children and youth is our priority. We strive to enable free visits and cover travel expenses to and from the museum for children living in smaller and remote towns and municipalities with limited access to the cultural and informal educational opportunities it provides. For many of them, this may be their first visit to any museum, and we are proud to support children and schools in fostering a culture of museum visits for educational purposes.
War Childhood Museum workshops are constantly developing. Can you share with us some upcoming activities?
The WCM Peace and Justice Education Resource Center is preparing to expand its educational resources with new materials. We will be offering activity plans in both Bosnian and English tailored for teachers and educators globally. These resources will include structured activities focusing on topics such as propaganda, disinformation, and genocide prevention. They will draw from our collection to provide a thorough and effective educational experience.
Speaking about educational workshops and activities, what does the process of designing one look like?
When planning new educational materials and activities, various factors are considered. Initially, the need for education on specific topics and their relevance to the War Childhood Museum’s educational goals is evaluated. The target group is identified by age, and the connection between the topic and related curricula is examined. Understanding the target group’s prior knowledge of the topic is crucial as it helps determine whether the children or youth have encountered it before. This information aids in setting the objectives and outcomes for the educational program, as well as selecting the primary and additional methodologies and forms of work to be used.
For example, we conduct workshops titled ‘This is How I Build Peace’ with high school students. The workshop includes defining peacebuilding, understanding obstacles, identifying resources and participants, and recognizing associated values. These sessions serve as an introduction since peacebuilding topics are minimally covered in official school curricula. Occasionally, subjects such as democracy, education for human rights, and similar topics are briefly covered in primary school classes, depending on the country and region. Our main goal with high school students is to empower them to actively engage in peacebuilding. We help them recognize their roles in these processes, identify factors that hinder peace efforts in their communities, and explore opportunities to initiate positive change.
When selecting our methods, we carefully sift through our collection to identify specific objects, personal memories, or oral history testimonies that will form the core of our activities and materials. Our primary approach revolves around object-based learning, which plays a crucial role in museum work. It establishes a direct visual link to the topic at hand, helping children and young people visually connect with historical events, emotions, and personal stories, thereby making learning less abstract. Object-based learning also promotes multi-perspectivity by encouraging discussions and presenting diverse viewpoints on the same subject. As part of our peacebuilding workshops, we incorporate visits to exhibition spaces where students engage with interactive guides featuring questions and reflection tasks. These activities foster deeper connections with objects and their stories, prompting reflection and nurturing empathy towards the individuals who contributed these objects to our collection.
Thank you for the conversation!
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If you would like to schedule an educational visit or learn more about the educational activities at WCM, please contact us at education@warchildhood.org.
