The LIFE Project

Wax crayons, markers, colorful paper, paint, scissors, glue, puzzles, educational games, jump ropes, balls, bean bags, rhythm sticks, tambourines, jingle bells, dolls, cars, buckets, scoops, rakes….these are but a few of the everyday supplies used in preschools of the western world.

Before LIFE Preschools, the children in the Mukuni Sector of rural Zambia had NONE of these.  Typical Zambian toys would be sticks, pebbles and dirt.  There is great educational value in these, as well as the cars the

children construct out of a few pieces of wire, bottle tops and a plastic drink bottle.  We even include traditional Zambian toys in our curriculum. 

We cannot deny the fact though, that simple things such as the use of colorful crayons has had a huge positive effect on the development of the LIFE Preschool kids.  It is interesting to note that even the teachers, who also didn’t grow up with our LIFE Preschool supplies, enjoy joining in with the children.  Often in the schools we visit, the teacher’s art project will be exhibited right there with the children’s art!

Although it is a challenge to keep the LIFE preschools sustainable whilst using beneficial supplies and equipment, we have come up with ingenious ideas to teach the teachers to make their own supplies and equipment (often with the help of the teacher training curriculum we use!).

Paint is made by boiling down colorful flowers, green vegetables, a certain type of bark, and even mixing soil with water.  Paintbrushes includes anything from sticks, leaves, feathers, pieces of rag tied to a stick to fingers, hands and feet!

          • Chitenge (the local colorful fabric) is great for beanbags and dolls.  Plaited strands of chitenge                 make for brilliant jump ropes.


          • Balls are made from plastic bags, plastic netting and even chitenge.


          • Pieces of charcoal can be used to draw with.


          • Several objects from nature are used in art projects.  Seeds are also used for math counters and             sorting games.

And so the list goes on.

Using locally available material have kept the cost of schools down and made them sustainable.  We empower the teachers by teaching them to make their own supplies.  We even do our bit to ensure the world is a bit greener, by using recycled junk to make most of our supplies!

Wax crayons, markers, colorful paper, paint, scissors, glue, puzzles, educational games, jump ropes, balls, bean bags, rhythm sticks, tambourines, jingle bells, dolls, cars, buckets, scoops, rakes…thanks to the LIFE team, this is now a part of life for children in the LIFE preschools!