• 'Silver Bridge' fairy tale-based community game for children along the Danube!

The DANUrbanity heritage preservation and development game family has a new member! With the ‘Silver Bridge’ (Ezüsthíd) story-based heritage game, our goal was to create a method by which we can make the material and immaterial heritage of the living environment tangible and experiential for those 8-10-year-old children who live in the multilingual environment of the Danube region, while also developing their language competence. The game, made in collaboration with the KultúrAktív Egyesület, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Urban Planning and Design and the KEK - Contemporary Architecture Centre, was developed with the teachers and students of the Stuttgart Hungarian Kindergarten Association, and then tested at the General Education Center of the Hungarian Germans in Baja at the beginning of the 2022/23 school year. A report of the test week in Baja follows.

• Walk in nature. What are the Danube fairies like?

We were very happy to be able to test the game in the General Education Center of the Hungarian Germans (Magyarországi Németek Általános Művelődési Központja - MNÁMK) in the first week of September. When we arrived at the MNÁMK in Baja, the 3rd graders were already excited. Since their teachers had already told them about the ‘Silver Bridge’ game in the previous days, there was no shortage of curiosity. First, we told our story based on the collection of the storyteller Csenge Zalka Virág, which is about the moving of the Danube water fairies from the human world to the Milky Way, whom, according to legend, we have the opportunity to bring back to the human world after 777 years. Then we went on a scouting trip around the school, the final destination of which was the Sugovica river. During the walk, the children solved playful tasks that helped them create the Danube fairies in their imaginations. The children participated in the session of the first day with full enthusiasm, it was a pleasure to see this!

• Scultpure making. Let's shape the Danube fairies!

On the second day of the ‘Silver Bridge’, the students of MNÁMK welcomed us with unwavering interest. The theme of the day was making unique fairy sculptures. Based on the previous day's walking experiences, each student shaped their fairy according to their own imagination, highlighting the special features and abilities of the fairies. Air-drying plasticine and natural elements collected while walking (leaves, berries, shells, nuts, etc.) were the main components of the sculptures. Beautiful works were created at the end of the session, and it was uplifting to see the children experience the joy of creation of their sculptures. By the end of the session, "Chestnut", "Strong", "Beauty", "Berry", "Puskás" named after the Hungarian football player and other fairies were created. The sculptures have an important role later, as they become the tokens of the ‘Silver Bridge’ game during the session of the fifth day. This session also attracted the interest of local TV. The participating children, class teacher Etelka Szabó and Anna Szilágyi-Nagy, president of the kultúrAktív Egyesület, gave a short interview about the ‘Silver Bridge’ project.

• City walk. Where can the Danube fairies be?

On the third day of the ‘Silver Bridge’, we refreshed the tale of the Danube water fairies, and then set off on a journey of discovery. This time we headed towards the city, and guest students from the Pedagogical Faculty of the József Eötvös College also joined us. We looked for traces of the Danube fairies on buildings, on the street, and in urban nature. During the city walk, the students mainly solved individual tasks. On the walk, they viewed the city from a new perspective and marveled at many previously unseen fabulous details. We ended the walk with a group task, where we prepared for the ceremonial reception of the fairies. For the return of the fairies after 777 years, we put together a fabulous dinner menu, from which the fish soup of Baja could not be missing. In addition, we designed a perfume and a fairy palace from materials found in Baja (grass, earth, water, etc.), we composed welcome music from the sounds of nature and the noise of the city, and we created a walking route showing the sights of Baja. What a day!

• Making a game board. Let's depict the home of Danube fairies and people!

On the fourth day of the ‘Silver Bridge’, we made the game boards of our board game in three groups. The first group depicted the world of fairies and the Milky Way, the second group the natural environment, and the third group the city environment. We used different techniques for each topic. The fairies' abode was made with glitter, we created the natural environment with leaf stamps, and the urban environment was made with collage mapping. Wonderful game boards were made, which the groups presented to each other, focusing on the joys and challenges of joint creation and teamwork. Then everyone marked which natural or urban part of Baja their fairy would like to return to. The prepared game boards, as well as the fairy sculptures, play a central role on the fifth day, at the board game playing session.

• Community game. Let's bring back Danube fairies!

On the fifth and final day of the ‘Silver Bridge’, we played a community game with unique game elements (game boards and fairy sculptures) that had been created during the week. The goal of the game was to build a silver bridge which fairies can cross into the human world after 777 years. The game's quiz questions were created with the class teachers, each of which recalls the week's experiences. In the first round, we all joined forces and worked as a team: we built the silver bridge together by solving activity-type questions. In the second round, the excitement increased: will the fairies cross the bridge? There is one condition for this: solving individual puzzles on the question cards. The students solved the tasks very skillfully, as a team and as individuals, and in the end all the fairies successfully crossed the bridge and took their place on the map of Baja. After the game, we organized a celebration. We thanked the children of MNÁMK, their class teachers and the directors of the school for the week full of experiences and for helping us perfect our game idea. All that remains is to finalize the game and share it with DANUrB+'s international partners.

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Project co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF and IPA).