Kuala Lumpur Tzu Chi International School’s kindergarteners stepped out of their classrooms for two learning journeys on August 13–14, 2025. Five-year-olds spent a morning with elderly residents at a long-established women’s home in Selangor; four-year-olds explored a community garden in Ampang. Across both days, children practiced empathy, respect for elders, and care for living things through simple, meaningful actions.

Building respect through real encounters

On August 13, 116 five-year-olds visited the Selangor King George V Silver Jubilee Fund, accompanied by ten teachers, five parent volunteers, and five documentation volunteers. The home, founded in 1937, currently cares for more than thirty elderly Chinese women with limited family or financial support.

Children sang, performed simple routines, and offered greetings and hugs—small gestures that eased conversation and brought laughter. To deepen interaction, teachers prepared games and a hands-on craft: each group of three children partnered with a grandmother to decorate a paper fan. Together they read a Jing Si Aphorism on the fan—“The most beautiful things in the sky are the stars; the most beautiful things on earth are human warmth”—then expressed it in sign language before gifting the fan for daily use.

Children also joined “chopstick relay” and “passing the cup with sticks” games, symbolizing love passed from one hand to another. Before leaving, they wiped tables and chairs and cleared leaves in the garden—simple acts that turned care into action.

What children noticed—and felt

The home felt “big” to the children—lanterns in the hall, a lawn and recycling area outside, “many grandmothers but no grandfathers.” When asked why some used wheelchairs, one child answered, “Because grandmothers are old!” They noticed beds and cabinets in a shared space, medicines placed by some beds, and “a strange stick” that turned out to be a cane. Their questions opened windows into elders’ daily needs.

“Today we went to Jubilee Old Folks’ Home to give love,” said Chen Kai-Ning (陳凱甯). “We sang, performed Chasiki, massaged the grandmothers, and made fans together.” Zheng Chen-You (鄭晨佑) added that he swept the floor, played games, did crafts, and danced with a grandmother because “grandmothers don’t have children.” During the visit, a resident asked, “Are you afraid of old people?” A child replied, “No, I’m very happy!”

One conversation lingered: when a child admired a grandmother’s bracelet, she smiled, “My mother gave it to me.” Some children worried about a blind grandmother—“She can’t watch YouTube or use a phone… she must feel lonely”—and wanted to “hold her hand.” Later, seeing the grandmothers laugh during games and songs, the children’s faces lit up, too.

Teachers reflected that children who struggled with patience during rehearsals were notably calm and gentle with elders that day. Parent volunteer Xie Xin-Ping (謝馨萍) said the experience made her rethink how well she accompanies her own parents and resolved to cherish that time.Back home, one child asked, “Do you know what a ‘happy face’ is?” When Mom guessed “the grandmothers’ faces,” the child replied, “It’s all our faces.” Another felt sad after the visit—“We’re not there to make them happy now”—and asked to return, hoping to find “the grandmother in yellow.”

Discovery in a city garden

The next day, 90 four-year-olds traveled to a community garden in Ampang. Volunteers welcomed them with warm-ups and a photo in front of a “Love the Earth” mural before guiding them through stations: feeding fish at a large pond, observing recycling bins for sorted waste, and meeting animals—tall white geese, lively ducklings, and a rabbit family. To help hesitant children, volunteers placed ducklings in a basin so little hands could gently touch and observe; a small pond of turtles drew more curious eyes.

At the planting station, children filled their own eco-pots—made two weeks earlier at home with their parents—with soil prepared with organic fertilizer, then planted and watered seedlings to take home. In the hall, a quick quiz on plants and animals kept the energy high; volunteers demonstrated eco-enzymes and a butterfly pea flower experiment, where liquids changed color from blue to purple with different mixtures—“like magic,” the children said.

Thoughtful planning, practical learning

Coordinator Ng Chuen Wee (伍俊蔚) said the garden was chosen after a site visit for its one-hour access and varied, hands-on activities—close to the city yet with a rural feel, maintained by volunteers and known for urban farming and sustainability education. She hopes children, often drawn to screens, can “feel the soil,” see where food comes from, and learn not to waste. Parent support mattered, too: making eco-pots together at home warmed up the experience and extended learning beyond the day.

Seeds that keep growing

Across two days, children practiced care in different ways—holding an elder’s hand, tidying a shared space, feeding a duckling, planting a seedling. Teachers and parents saw patience and empathy take root. Children themselves put it simply when asked who will care for parents when they are old:

“We can take care of them ourselves!”

These early experiences—brief, real, and close to home—help children connect compassion with action, and love for the earth with daily habits. The lessons will continue growing wherever their little hands next choose to help.

Written by Tanya Teo (張凱芬), Chen Mui-King (陳美琴)

Translated by Mindy Chen (陳敏理)

Source: 從田園到心田 幼教的學習之旅 ​