This year's Mandela Day campaign centers on one powerful idea: "A better climate future begins with the children. And this change starts with play." As climate change intensifies, South Africans are experiencing more frequent heatwaves, floods and droughts, and young children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts. Many under-resourced ECD centres operate in extreme heat without shade or clean water, with poor infrastructure that can't support children's growth, health or safety, says the foundation.

"This Mandela Day, your contribution goes far beyond infrastructure, it's an investment in a child's future," says Warren Farrer, CEO at the DO MORE FOUNDATION. "We're calling on South Africans to come together with purpose and compassion to help create safe, nurturing spaces where children can learn, play and grow, even as the climate changes around them."

Change Starts With Play This Mandela Day

Founded in 2017, the DO MORE FOUNDATION has built a powerful collective of partnerships across South Africa, always placing young children at the focus of its efforts. Last year its 'Mandela Day of Play' campaign saw over 25 business partners and 500 volunteers come together to upgrade 192 ECD centres and improving the play spaces for 9 600 young children, adds the foundation.

This Mandela Day, the Foundation says that it invites the public, corporates and community partners to support a national drive to transform early learning centres in nine rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, North-West, Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo with upgrades such as:

  • safe, shaded play areas to protect children from heat
  • drought-resistant trees
  • access to clean water through water harvesting kits
  • solar-powered appliances, like fans and lights 
  • age-appropriate climate play packs to teach season, climate and weather patterns, and
  • climate education and training for ECD practitioners.

Create a Climate Resilience Play Pack for Young Children

As part of the campaign, corporate volunteers will spend their 67 minutes assembling Climate Resilience Play Packs, which are interactive games that teach 2- to 5-year-olds about weather, seasons and basic climate change concepts in a hopeful, age-appropriate way. "Early childhood is such a powerful time to start building awareness and encouraging proactive behaviours," says Dr Jessica Ronaasen, Advocacy and Innovation Lead at the DO MORE FOUNDATION. "When we support teachers, parents and caregivers to introduce everyday climate actions such as saving water, protecting trees or staying safe in extreme weather, we're helping to raise a generation that's more connected to their environment and more prepared for the future."

Sponsor a Climate Resilience Kit for an ECD Centre

For those unable to volunteer in person, the DO MORE FOUNDATION is offering various sponsorship opportunities, starting from R67 for a Climate Resilience Play Pack to a full upgrade of an ECD centre with climate-adaptive tools and infrastructure. Sponsorships will transform an under-resourced ECD centre into a safer, cooler, more joyful space for learning and play, says the foundation.

"ECD centres are often the heart of their communities. Practitioners do incredible work, often with very little support. By upgrading these spaces, we're protecting children and showing communities that climate action can begin right where they are," says Jabu Mthembu-Dlamini, Community Programmes Lead at the DO MORE FOUNDATION.

The DO MORE FOUNDATION's 2025 Mandela Day campaign is a rallying call to every South African: to do more for young children, to do more for the planet, and to do more together.

For more information, visit www.domore.org.za. You can also follow the DO MORE FOUNDATION on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of contributor