The nine Mein-Day groups, consisting of first and second graders, are each accompanied by a teacher.
After three introductory lessons on the 17 sustainability goals, the groups start brainstorming ideas for the project work.
It is important that the project ideas come from the children. The teacher does not know in advance in which direction the children want to get involved.
"This project is extremely exciting because, as a learning guide, you never know before the lesson what will happen and what topics the children will come up with. The teachers are learning guides and support the children in their ideas and plans, give them tips and guide them. In this project, the children not only learn traditional subject knowledge such as German and math, but also practical life skills," explains Ms Borninkhof, Deputy Head of Grüne-Aue-Schule.
Ms Odenbach and Ms Borninkhof's groups came up with the idea of collecting donations and handing them over to a charitable organization: So shortly before Christmas, the two groups organized a waffle sale for the employees of the neighbouring building authority of the town of Gronau.
"Of course, organizing a campaign like this also meant that the children had to think in advance about what they needed for a waffle sale and where they could get the materials they needed. They also had to think about when and how to contact the building authority to carry out the event," explains Ms. Odenbach.
After a lot of planning, a group of children finally set off with Ms. Borninkhof to interview the deputy head of the building authority. Once there, the children explained their request and asked if their action could take place. The building authority employee gave the green light and so the planning could continue.
In the days that followed, the children diligently brought all the materials they needed so that the waffle sale could take place on the Monday before the Christmas vacations.
In addition to the waffle sale, homemade witches' houses were offered and donations in kind were collected by the employees of the building department. These are also to be handed over to a charitable organization. The employees of the building authority were delighted with the children and their ideas: "This is a great campaign! We are happy to donate to something like this. Come back again...."
After the sale, the children eagerly counted their profits: 125.90 euros were raised. The children are very proud of their first step.
"That is precisely the aim and the attitude behind the My Day project: the children feel 'I can make a difference'," says Ms. Borninkhof, delighted with the successful campaign.
After the campaign is before the campaign ... and so the children are already busy planning their next steps to collect even more donations for charitable organizations after the Christmas vacations.
