By: Fauzia Kusmarani (Volunteer Panda Mobile)

Art and nature are inseparable, especially for young children. Science supported by the development of creativity encourages children to care more about conservation and protection of nature. On Saturday (05/05), WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile had the opportunity to convey this message at the open house KidzArt Gading Serpong, Tangerang.

Various activities were held in a series of open house events attended by dozens of children and parents. For three hours from 09.00 to 12.00, children were guided to get to know Indonesian nature through various art and science activities. Panda Mobile's water education laboratory program invited children to get to know water as one of the closest natural components they can encounter. Furthermore, painting activities are carried out to help children recognize animals while honing their creativity. In between activities, children were given the opportunity to try the traditional game of engklek with volunteers, parents, and teachers.

The open house in collaboration with Panda Mobile was warmly welcomed by parents. "Events like this need to be done more often to spread awareness about the importance of protecting nature," one parent commented on Panda Mobile's activities. The enthusiasm of students and parents was evident from the various questions that arose during each session of the activity.

The highlight of the event was the storytelling activity delivered by Kak Ryan. His expertise in delivering conservation messages packaged in fairy tales seemed to be able to hypnotize children to remain eager to listen. Laughter could occasionally be heard from the room where the storytelling activity took place. Even after the event ended, some children insisted on playing and exploring the Panda Mobile truck with the volunteers. The children's passion and curiosity in learning about the nature around them brings new hope for the future of Indonesia's nature, while encouraging the volunteers to continue to strive to spread conservation messages as widely as possible.