New educational play area in Kaunas

DFDS, one of the largest ferry operators in Europe, together with the children's educational entertainment center CurioCity, has introduced a new cognitive space for children - the port city.

The educational entertainment center, which covers an area of more than 1,500 square meters, has 12 thematic spaces - children can get acquainted with various experiences, imitate life situations, learn by playing and exploring. From now on, all visitors to the center will be able to get acquainted with another activity - maritime and maritime transport.

“We can safely say that our educational center for children is unique, because we accommodate several different activities for children of different ages in one space. And today we added another one - a port city. Although we live in a small country and the sea is a few hours away, maritime transport and maritime science are a bit exotic to us. Therefore, we are very happy to have the opportunity to introduce children to this extremely interesting specialty, ”says Donalda Vasiliauskienė, Marketing Manager of CurioCity.

Children visiting the port city area will learn about the maritime alphabet, learn what makes up the ship’s crew, how to use the walkie-talkie, and of course, will be able to simulate the operation of the ship and test themselves in the role of captain.

"The education and upbringing of children is a very important and close topic for us. The maritime profession is very specific, the work is very hard and responsible, but the people who work at sea feel infinite love for ships and water. Our goal is for as many children as possible to become acquainted with and fall in love with the maritime profession. We hope that this new educational space will open even bigger cognitive pathways, where they will not only learn more about maritime transport, but also if they want to work at sea when they grow up, ”says Neringa Sinkevičienė, Marketing Manager of DFDS Seaways.

According to N. Sinkevičienė, the company pays great attention to the education and employment of children, primarily because children, knowing what the profession and what kind of work are, are also introduced to safe behavior at sea, the complexity and specificity of the profession.

"We have equipped children's play areas in our ferries. Of course, one of the goals is to keep the kids busy during the trip to make it fun and memorable for everyone. But another aspect is to develop love and respect for the sea from an early age, to get acquainted with the peculiarities of working at sea. Often, maritime work is romanticized, but first and foremost, it is very difficult and responsible. Therefore, we hope that by teaching children about seafaring, we will instill in them a sense of respect for the water in which it is necessary to behave safely, ”says N. Sinkevičienė.

According to N. Sinkevičienė, the simulation model of the ship in the children's educational entertainment center is one of the cooperation projects with CurioCity. "Together with CurioCity, we are updating children's play areas on our ferries. Our partners are well aware of what the kids like and how to get them interested, and our youngest travelers have already tried out the newly installed playground on one of the ferries. Another space will soon be renovated to await curious travelers. ”