A toy manufacturer is revolutionizing Kenyan education through a set of educational tools that aims to not only spark creativity among children and digitise the way of learning but also deliver to educators an inspirational way to teach.

Dubbed LEGO Education-a wing of the internationally acclaimed LEGO toy brand- these tools are six in total and aide in the learning of various core subjects such as literacy, mathematics, science among others.

LEGO Education, a brand from Denmark,was recently launched in Kenya at the Danish Ambassador's residence towards the end of last month. The Danish Ambassador Geert Aagaard Andersen commended Kenya's committment towards education citing that this created the ideal environment for partnering with LEGO Education.

These educational tools incorporate various components in order to achieve successful learning. One of these systems is the curriculum which basically refers to what children are taught in school.

“LEGO as a toy sparks creativity in the kids. Through its building block concept, children are able to build structures folowing instructions that accompany the toy or completely come up with their own,” remarked Raphael Ambasu, the Commercial Manager for Global Supply and Trading ApS East African Ltd which distributes LEGO in the region.

Each LEGO Education pack also comes with a software which teachers must be trained on how to use.

The educational tools cater to a variety of school going children.

“We have have products for pre-school, elementary, middle school then high school but it's only one. Basically we are big on primary school, 15 years and below.”

LearnToLearn is the first tool from LEGO Education that features simple activities across language arts, mathematics, social studies, science,and design & engineering.

For instance in the science department, children will have a chance ot build wild animals and make them come to life with the 9580 LEGO Education WeDo Construction Set. This enhanced way of learning will enable “teachers and children to share ideas as opposed to the top-down approach,” remarked Raphael.

“For example using the WeDo, the children will construct an alligator then the teacher will inform them various aspects about it such as its habitat. This way the students will not forget what they learnt about the alligator because they constructed one,” he added.

Other LEGO Education products include StoryStarter which help kids create good stories to become better writers.

Primarily targeting schools , LEGO Education has already started courting several private and international schools.

“These are people who have known LEGO since it started in Kenya in 2013 and have been our main customers. We are currently rolling out in around ten international schools such as Braebun, Hillcrest, Brookhouse among others,” said Raphael.

“For the private schools, we are in talks with Makini School, St.Austins and Nairobi Jaffrey Academy,”he added.

Public schools have not been left behind either.

We are in talks with the Ministry of Education to see if we can form a consortium and then get interested donors on board so that these products gets to the students,” remarked Raphael who alsonoted that in the next six months they should have a concrete plan.

Gone are the days of top-down methods of learning whereby the teacher was the only source of information. This interactive approach by LEGO not only breathes life into Kenyan education but also enhances the whole learning method.

For more information on how you can get LEGO Education in your school contact Raphael Ambasu on 0713 886 147