Local children can now learn, develop skills, and socialize in a comfortable and protected environment.
34% of parents are able to devote more time to work after their child returns to offline kindergarten attendance at a facility equipped with a safe shelter. For 12% of respondents, the opportunity to take their child to kindergarten offline means returning to work.
At the same time, nearly half of parents believe that without kindergarten, it is difficult for a child to make friends and maintain meaningful social interaction. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 87,000 preschool-age children are forced to attend kindergarten online due to the lack of safe shelters.
In 2025, we equipped the first four shelters for savED based in Mykolaiv kindergartens, two of which are shared by preschoolers and school-aged children.
We transformed these shelters into fully functional learning spaces where classes can safely continue during air raid alerts. They include designated learning and play areas, and for the youngest children, comfortable beds for rest and sleep.
The protagonists of the video series, directed by Mariia Ozirna (Dukhovne Lychko), are children from regions affected by the war. Katya, Nazar, and Yaroslav have experienced evacuation, occupation, and forced displacement, yet today they are once again able to study offline in Ukrainian educational institutions.
All the heroes of the video manifesto attend Mykolaiv kindergartens where, together with the LEGO Foundation, we equipped safe learning spaces in shelters.
Katia is from the left bank of Kherson region. Her family was forced to flee their occupied hometown after the Russian army destroyed their home. It took six days for the girl and her parents to reach Mykolaiv.
She attends Mykolaiv Kindergarten No. 95, which resumed offline operation for the first time since 2022. Katya dreams of becoming a doctor and loves drawing with her friend Ania.
Nazar found himself under occupation in the village of Novokyivka in Mykolaiv region in 2022. Under these conditions, he secretly continued studying in Ukrainian online, even though internet access was almost nonexistent.
He is currently a 5th-grade student in Mykolaiv. He says, “School is important to me because it’s where I discover the world.” Nazar enjoys playing the piano and is passionate about robotics.
At the beginning of the full-scale war, Yaroslav and his family evacuated from their hometown of Mykolaiv to the German city of Torgau. However, his parents dreamed that their son would attend a Ukrainian kindergarten, so Yaroslav returned home with his mother and brother.
Today, he attends Mykolaiv Preschool Education Institution No. 95.
