A preschool teacher in Slovakia reflects on what implementing children's right to participate in decision-making means in practice:

“When I first encountered the concept of children’s participation and choice, I didn’t really know how to approach it, and even felt a sense of denial – as a defensive reaction. After all, I had always taken great care of the children I taught – did that mean that everything I had done so far was not enough? And yet my curiosity won out. I decided to explore this topic and understand what it really meant and whether it could bring something new to my practice.

 

I have been working in early childhood education for over ten years. If you had asked me five years ago if the children in my class participated in decision-making, I would have answered without hesitation: “Of course they do.” I would have convinced you – after all, the children in my class chose their activities, helped plan our social circle, took turns setting the table for lunch. But when I learned more about the concept of decision-making and children’s participation through the TOY for Participation project, I realized how wrong I was and how profound and fundamental this idea is. After all, it is not just about choosing an activity, but about recognizing that children have the right to express their opinions on issues that are important to them, and that we should take those opinions seriously. As I was explained, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children are not only future citizens, they are already citizens whose voices matter now¹.

This realization changed my approach. I had always encouraged children to share their thoughts, but I began to think more deeply: Are all the children in my class really being heard? Do their thoughts and desires influence what we do together?

Then I started making small but important changes. For example, when planning our own work, I asked the children to help choose the topics we would explore, rather than just which blocks or books to use, as before. When the group became interested in insects, I asked them what they wanted to learn, and their answers shaped our week. We built an “insect hotel” in the garden, made up stories about imaginary caterpillars, and shared our learnings with our parents.

I also became more attentive to how children present themselves not only through words but also through drawings, gestures, body language, and even silence. One child with limited language skills expressed so much through her drawings. Another child, who had recently moved to the country with her parents, expressed what was important to her through stories that she shared over and over again. These moments reminded me that listening means slowing down, observing carefully, and making space for different forms of expression.”

Participation and inclusion go hand in hand

“The more I learned, the more I saw how participation was connected to inclusion. I started to pay attention to the children in my group who were less likely to speak up—those with disabilities, who spoke a different language, or who had difficult family circumstances. I realized that they needed to be given more opportunities to express themselves, perhaps in different ways than the rest of the children in the group. It’s not just about letting children speak, it’s about making sure every child is heard. It forced me to slow down and pay more attention to them.

Yes, it can be a bit of a burden – it means changing our routine, rethinking how we ask questions, observing ourselves – are we really allowing for different ways of responding. It may require extra time and effort. But when we build this flexibility into our practice, we demonstrate to children that their input matters, no matter how they express it.

Of course, participating in decision-making doesn’t mean giving children complete control. It’s about building a respectful partnership where children’s ideas help shape what happens around them in the group. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s hard. But over time, I’ve come to see these challenges and tasks as opportunities to build trust, understanding, and connection.

What struck me most was how many of us—caregivers, teachers, parents, caregivers—are actually already implementing these ideas without realizing it. But definitions and names are important. If we understand what we are doing, it makes our practice more focused, inclusive, and ultimately more meaningful.

Participating in the TOY for Participation project helped me continue to learn, to study early childhood education practices from different countries and contexts. We, educators and teachers, share ideas and experiences on how to make children’s participation in decision-making real, especially for the very young and those who are inactive. This is not something special or additional; it is one of the manifestations of quality early childhood education. And when children grow up knowing that their voices are valued, they become adults who respect, listen and interact with the world around them.”

In Ukraine, the TOY for Participation program is implemented by the NGO "Social Initiatives for Occupational Safety and Health". The platform for implementing innovative ideas is Play Hub - a game center in Kyiv. Here, educators and psychologists will use the knowledge gained from the end of the year. The start of the program's implementation in Ukraine was announced by the Director of the NGO "Social Initiatives for Occupational Safety and Health" LHSI - during a meeting of the Play Hub executive committee, Ilona Yeleneva.

“We have become part of a broad project funded by the European Commission. With a focus on children's meaningful participation in all processes that concern them. It is about ensuring children's participation in all processes, including educational processes. How to involve children of the youngest age - how to take into account their opinions and views, this is what our work will focus on. We will receive a certain manual and will adapt it based on Play Hub.

"I want to thank the educators of our center who offered their example of involving children and parents in overcoming crisis situations and - we passed it on to our colleagues in the Netherlands. Let's see how our example will be described in the manual."

Over the past year, 2024, Play Hub has performed excellently. The number of visitors has increased. Whole families come to the gaming center, and everyone - both children and parents - is involved in the game.

“1203 parents and guardians came in a year,” said Ilona Yeleneva. “A lot of adults come with their children. We understand that such high numbers demonstrate the difficulties in obtaining state preschool education. But we are proud that dads, in particular, come to our center. Because usually, mothers visit similar centers abroad more often.”

TOY for Participation is a European initiative co-funded by the European Commission and managed by ICDI, working with partners in 8 countries to promote the right of young children to participate in decision-making. In total, over 40,000 children and families have already been reached through more than 40 play centres, and this is just the beginning.

Additional literature

Save the Children (2005). Standards of Practice for Child Participation. A short, practitioner-oriented guide outlining ten quality standards for meaningful child participation.

https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/…/practice… UNICEF (2018). A conceptual framework for measuring adolescent participation outcomes. While this guide focuses on adolescents, it offers accessible explanations of participation at different developmental stages, which is useful for understanding how participation evolves as children age.

https://www.unicef.org/media/57396/file Children's Rights Alliance for England (2021). Participating with purpose: engaging children and young people with additional needs and disabilities. A short, accessible resource on equality and inclusion.

https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/craecontaug04.pdf

Remarks

UN. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 12–13. About TOY for Participation

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