Finding Thabo: A Cognitive Stimulation Project for Young Children

Finding Thabo, a cognitive stimulation project by 
 Trust Reg Number #IT16112/2013 | PBO Number #930048112   
Unit 104, First Floor, GoodHope Building, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa 
https://thereachtrust.org 
97% 
rating by 
Education Alliance Finland 
•We believe all children deserve to reach their full potential. 
•Finding Thabo is an innovative play based approach to stimulation for 3 to 6 year old children, with a 
special emphasis on the Grade RR year. 
•Inspired by “Where’s Wally?” children search for objects in pictures.  The specific objects and 
sequence of discovery have been carefully designed to ensure stimulation of multiple development 
areas. 
•The activities were developed by a panel of experts including a Psychologist, Occupational 
Therapists, and Speech and Language Therapists, based on research into typical developmental 
deficits in South African children.  
• Finding Thabo recently received an outstanding 97% score from Education Alliance Finland .
• The vision is to ensure that children receive high quality stimulation in low resource environments, 
facilitated by ECD practitioners with little (or no) formal training. 
•We have reached 400,000 to date.  But our goal is to reach 1 million children by 2030.  We hope 
you will partner with us on our journey to transform the education landscape in  Africa! 
 Executive Summary 
Journey to date 
400,000+  
children reached 
across 9 Provinces 
(and in 13 
communities across 
Botswana) 
10  
pictures 
developed 
1 000+  
brain stimulation 
activities 
developed 
WhatsApp 
channel 
launched 
12 000 + 
ECD 
Teachers 
Trained 
4 
languages 

Finding Thabo was developed with a set of key design principles in mind: 
•FUN -   Research shows that children learn best through play.  Finding Thabo was designed from a child’s 
perspective to be fun and engaging.  It is also fun for caregivers and teachers!   
•SIMPLE to implement - The majority of teachers and practitioners in South Africa have a low level of 
training.  Finding Thabo is designed to be easy to implement in low resource environments. 
•HIGH QUALITY  - The pictures are beautifully designed to capture a child’s attention, while the activities are 
developed by education experts 
• LANGUAGE AGNOSTIC  - The pictures are wordless, and the activities can be introduced by teachers in their 
home language.  The teacher activity guides are currently available in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa and 
isiZulu. 
•ASPIRATIONAL - Each picture is designed to provide children with an aspirational (yet relatable) experience 
helping develop confidence and a sense of self worth 
•EVIDENCE BASED  - activities are formulated based on evidence of what a typical  African child needs to 
overcome common developmental deficiencies 
  
 Design Principles 
Finding Thabo - Overview 
“Finding Thabo” is an innovative PLAY based solution, providing 
stimulation opportunities for children aged 3 to 6 years old.  This is 
a critical time, when young brai

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