Last week, Open Academy Step by Step and Are You Syrious NGO launched a new Play Hub in Zagreb, located within the Cultural Center Travno and adjacent to the country’s largest asylum-seeker camp, Porin. The City of Zagreb is supporting this initiative with two small grants, while the Cultural Center is providing the space, mobile storage furniture, and toys to help make this project a reality.
The Play Hub will offer a range of activities, including mask-making, Persian dance, intercultural painting, music classes, drama workshops, art therapy sessions, and short, informative talks on topics relevant to refugees—such as education, social services, and cultural programmes.
The opening day was a success, with enthusiastic new members, primarily Russian and Turkish-speaking children aged 0 to 12, eager to return for each session. The Play Hub also collaborates with the NGO Médecins du Monde, which has access to the Porin camp and assists with outreach.
This is the sixth Play Hub in Croatia and Open Academy Step by Step have been part of the ICDI coordinated programme TOY for Inclusion since 2017. Other partners in the programme are the International Step-by-Step Association – ISSA (NL), Educational Research Institute – ERI (Slovenia), Wide Open School – WOS (Slovakia), Centre for Innovation in the Early Years – VBJK (Belgium), Associazione 21 Luglio (Italy), Partners Hungary, and Centre for Education Initiatives – CEI (Latvia)
The TOY for Inclusion Play Hubs have been selected for the HundrED Global Collection 2025! Today, ICDI is in Finland at the HundrED Innovation Summit, connecting with other inspiring initiatives dedicated to youth and social change. We are thrilled to share news of this new Play Hub during our participation.
Interested in learning more about the TOY for Inclusion Play Hubs?
TOY for Inclusion aims to improve the transition experience of vulnerable young children (ages 0-10)—especially those from Roma, minority, refugee, or migrant backgrounds—as they enter school. It achieves this by creating community-based Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Play Hubs, fostering relationships among young children and families from diverse backgrounds. Read more:
