Zurich city council defends ‘toy-free’ kindergarten initiative

Zurich City Councillor defends toy-free nurseries Keystone-SDA

Zurich city council has defended the decision to eschew toys in kindergartens for several weeks.

In the “Toy-Free Kindergarten” project, the children have access only to boxes, cloths, chairs, tables, ropes, planks and natural objects. All conventional toys are put away for a period of eight to ten weeks.

The Swiss People’s Party had criticised the project harshly, describing it as an “experiment” on children and “deliberately induced stress to shape behaviour”. The city council responded that the project is not directed against toys. Rather, it is a “different way of playing”, it wrote in a response to a Swiss People’s Party motion.

No negative impact

A scientific evaluation shows that there have been “slight but significant positive developments” in various life skills among the children. The city council cites frustration tolerance, social initiative, the ability to concentrate, social integration and empathy towards other children.

A large proportion of the children showed no changes and no negative developments were observed. The project has also been well received by parents. Over 80% rated it as positive or somewhat positive.

In just one instance to date, the “toy-free weeks” had to be cut short. However, the Zurich city council is not aware of the reasons for this.

57 classes have taken part

Spending a few weeks without toys is not a Zurich invention: the project originated in Germany and was first carried out in the canton of Aargau in 2002. The project eventually came to the canton of Zurich in 2013. In the city of Zurich, the scheme was launched in the 2021/22 school year. Since then, 57 classes have taken part.

However, changing the familiar environment is not suitable for all children. Those with autism spectrum disorders would still need a clearly structured learning environment, according to the Zurich city council.

Teachers are therefore encouraged to assess whether particular difficulties might be expected for individual children. The decision to put the toys away for a few weeks rests with the school management and teaching staff.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.