‘Matsikoane Mabaleha has come up with ways to make learning fun and accessible through her innovative, and prestigious ideas.
She has designed a collection of products which do not only stimulate, but also enhance concentration ability for children.
‘Ka u Lotha!’ is a collection of products that include jigsaw puzzles, board games, playing cards and puzzle books which promote Lesotho and Basotho culture. It was inspired by the love for board games, yet she was concerned that the content on the products in the market was foreign, thereby promoting other worlds over Lesotho.
Born and bred in Qacha’s Nek, Mabaleha is a social worker by profession, who specialises in character development coaching in children aged 4-12 years old.
She told theReporter in an interview this week that during the lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns, her family engaged in both traditional (riddles/ lilotho) and board games and magazines’ crossword puzzles as part of entertainment.
It is from these engagements that she realised the need to have products with local content to preserve the Basotho culture in a fun yet educational manner.
“My imagination was fueled by experience, that the board games and puzzles we had were too complicated for my two nieces who were below the age of five years. To accommodate them, I used cardboard and old magazines to make playing cards with Lesotho domestic animals themes. This first initiative offered entertainment and education for my nieces, setting up the foundation for what would become of “Ka U Lotha?”
“The board games are good on life skills, they can be played by up to four people. The board games consist of dice and four different coloured tokens. Players take turns to throw the dice and move their tokens as per the number of dots on the dice. They get either punished for landing on a socially disapproved instruction or rewarded if they land on a socially approved instruction,” Mabaleha stated.
Furthermore, she said, playing cards are on matching; the complete ones ready for production are the domestic animals. This is whereby children will be matching animals to their sounds, animals to their young ones, as well as to their opposite sex and so on.
Puzzle books – the children are supposed to answer questions by finding the answers on word search, or write answers on a crisscross. This helps develop concentration, patience, problem-solving, and reasoning abilities.
The books also promote social interaction, encouraging children to share, take turns and cope with losing in a healthy way. Most importantly, children get to enhance their knowledge about the country.
Mabaleha said she uses her meager skills to design the games and source out printers and cutters both in Lesotho and in South Africa since she still doesn’t have the needed equipment.
Speaking of the feedback from parents and teachers, she said: “Parents and teachers who have used these products applaud their ability to keep children engaged while teaching them essential skills like concentration, sharing and taking turns; coping with losing in a healthy manner; enhancing their eye-hand coordination while getting to know more about Lesotho as a county.
“They say the games are an alternative for children to have fun away from TV screens while learning about the geography of Lesotho as well as Basotho culture, customs, and good habits,” she noted.
In every business there are challenges; thus, Mabaleha’s is the packaging of the products, which delayed her from rigorously putting them out on the market.
As a result, this started as a market test and because of the response, her wish is to escalate the production and marketing of the products so that she could find shelves in other stores in addition to Milco.
“In a few years to come I envision my products being recognised as providing more than just games, but also as instruments for mental health, cultural education, and connecting with others. Some of the products are available at Milco. Alternatively, interested people can simply text her on WhatsApp number +266 62983632. Alternatively they can email he at: lucymabaleha@gmail.com
