By: Suci Dwi P. (Volunteer Panda Mobile)

"I want to try. I want to try, please!" shouted the children of KidzArt Puri Indah, West Jakarta when they wanted to test water using a microscope in WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile water laboratory. WWF-Indonesia's environmental education truck was present on Saturday (26/08) to enliven KidzArt Puri Indah's birthday celebration with various environmental education activities, such as water labs, "Explore Papua" games, watching movies, storytelling, and seminars for parents.

A total of 200 children along with their parents attended the event. Sani Firmansyah, Supporter Center WWF-Indonesia opened the event by introducing WWF-Indonesia and Panda Mobile. Because there were so many participants, the activities were held in several different locations.

In this activity, children were introduced to the water cycle, water sources, and facts about water. They were also educated about the importance of water sources for wildlife, especially Sumatran Tigers in their natural habitat, one of which is in the Rimbang Baling area, Riau.

The children also had the opportunity to test the acidity of the water and see the microbial content in the water using a microscope. Previously, Sani Firmansyah showed a photo of a river that looked clean and asked why the photo was different from the condition of rivers in Jakarta in general. "Because many people throw garbage into the river," replied James, a KidzArt member. Some children already knew the cause of the dirty rivers in Jakarta.

At the same time, in the parking lot area, children were invited to play "Explore Papua". Through this game, they got to know more about the animals in Papua. They got the information from cue cards with pictures of certain animals. The children then threw the ball into the bucket according to the picture they read.

The opportunity to climb on top of WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile truck was also felt when watching a movie in the back cabin of the truck. This was the most crowded post visited by the children. They watched the movies "The Adventure of Banyu and Water Drops" and "Quartet of The Crossroad". At the end of the movie, Panda Mobile volunteers explained about the umbrella animals that are the focus of WWF-Indonesia's conservation, namely the Javan Rhino, Sumatran Tiger, Sumatran Elephant, orangutan, whale shark, and turtle. In addition to watching the movie, they also looked around other facilities owned by the Panda Mobile truck, such as a mini library, an assortment of stuffed animals that can be played with, as well as coloring equipment.

Another activity that KidzArt members participated in was storytelling with Kak Ryan. They looked cheerful when listening to a story about an elephant. The children also sang along and were very enthusiastic about imitating the movements made by Kak Ryan.

Not only children who get education about conservation, parents also get information about conservation efforts undertaken by WWF-Indonesia. The parents got an explanation on how to support WWF's conservation programs. Various campaigns about green lifestyle were also delivered on that occasion.