Learn, Play, Protect

Program Overview

Children learn best through play, and finding playful ways to help children understand the amazing power of vaccines is a critical piece of reducing vaccine hesitancy for families. The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center created over 500 Learn, Play, Protect classroom kits for distribution throughout the state of Kansas. Kits included three classroom activities with all supplies, plus guides to help educators answer questions in age-appropriate, engaging ways. Including this information in a well-designed learning kit packed with exciting resources provided a natural incentive for teachers to engage with the information. Learn, Play, Protect classroom kits stand apart from another email in the inbox or a paper on the desk. Activities included:

• Virus and Antibody Model Building: Create models of viruses and antibodies using clay to see the impact of vaccination on immune systems.
• Protection Engineering: Experiment with different levels of antibody protection using foam rockets and blocks.
• mRNA Race: Demonstrate how the immune system creates antibodies to fight off viruses with and without vaccines using Brain Flake builder models.

Community Needs

What need was the program addressing? How was the need identified?

Demystifying vaccines by teaching children about their immune systems is a critical piece of reducing hesitancy and promoting confidence, an objective identified by public health officials in 2021. Pretend play, an important element in all Discovery Center learning kits, is one of the best ways to promote well-child visits for children. When children pretend, they create a world in which they make the rules and choose what happens, allowing them to safely try new experiences. Play stimulates natural curiosity and sets the stage for teachable moments. It also facilitates discussions between children and caregivers, giving children the opportunity to influence adults in their lives in positive ways.

What specific community were you serving? How did you tailor the program for your community?

The project focused on communities with high vaccine hesitancy that were currently experiencing substantial or high community transmission rates. This required persistence and willingness to educate gatekeepers at many levels throughout the school systems to get a commitment to accept and engage with the initiative.

Funding and Partnerships

How was the program initially funded? If the program will continue, how will the program be funded or sustained in the future?

Learn, Play, Protect Classroom Kits were a health education project in partnership with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment designed to promote and improve health equity and increase vaccination rates. Projects like this help establish the museum as a trusted resource for funders looking for partners to accomplish big goals.

With whom did you partner? How did you develop those partnerships?

Each kit was filled with evidence-based activities developed by Discovery Center educators working in collaboration with public health experts, Kansas teachers, and local children who tested the activities. Before the pandemic, the museum hosted more than 10,000 field trip students a year. More than 1 in 4 of our visitors comes from outside Shawnee County. As the largest children’s museum in Kansas, the Discovery Center is a well-established partner to schools with positive brand recognition among teachers.

Impact of Program

What is the impact of your program? How have you measured and evaluated success (or failure)?

The program was delivered in 22 Kansas counties across the state. Kits were delivered to 507 classrooms serving more than 12,000 students. Feedback from teachers was positive. “They loved these” wrote one teacher, “I loved the connection to the virus and it was easy for them to understand why we were doing the experiment.”

Feedback was solicited through QR codes linked to an online survey placed in the kits and follow-up contacts. Of teachers who responded to the survey, 91% agreed or strongly agreed that the activities were easy to implement, 96% agreed or strongly agreed the activities were engaging for the students, and 96% agreed or strongly agreed it was overall a positive experience.

Additional health literacy activities that occurred as a result of the initial project included four community health and vaccine events held in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. A large-scale version of the Protection Engineering activity was created and used at community health events to educate all ages.

Network, Collaborate, and Share

What advice would you give to someone implementing a similar community-based program?

It’s critically important to start with listening. Go to the communities you want to reach and ask what they need and how you can help. Use your area of expertise to fill gaps identified by the community.

How can people reach you?

Email President/CEO Dené Mosier (dmosier@kansasdiscovery.org) to contact us about this project.