By CASEY NEILL
GREATER Dandenong’s smallest residents shared their biggest ideas for making their home great.
The council hosted a Children’s Forum at the Dandenong Civic Centre on Tuesday 24 May.
More than 85 students aged eight to 12 years from 20 schools took part in four workshops throughout the day.
They discussed what they liked about where they lived and how it could be made better, and wrote postcards to Mayor Heang Tak, explaining in writing and pictures what was important to them.
Dandenong North Primary School student Aalijah, 11, told the Journal she’d been writing down ideas of how to make Dandenong a better place.
Classmate Simone, 11, said they’d also been writing down what mattered to them.
Aalijah said children’s safety was important to her, and in her letter to the mayor suggested three sections in playgrounds – for toddlers, young kids and older kids.
“The little kids could get injured by the big kids,” she said.
Simone wrote to Cr Tak about how sport could bring the community together.
“It’s good to have a place to go where everyone likes the same thing as you,” she said.
“Sport programmes make you feel safe and it’s a place you can deal with problems.”
Students sketched ideas for outdoor spaces on iPads in Palm Plaza and learnt about how cities and neighbourhoods were designed.
Ben, 11, from St Gerard’s in Dandenong North, wants to see a giant chess board in Greater Dandenong, or a colour-changing dancefloor.
He and classmates Brijesh, 12, and Teresa, 12, suggested a water fountain and a rock climbing wall would make outdoor spaces more appealing for kids.
Also on their wish list were “chairs that flip over into bricks so you can climb on them”, more gardens and trees to climb.
“It can occupy more children so when their parents are shopping they can be occupied,” Teresa said.
The students learnt about playground design, shared their ideas and rated images of playgrounds, and worked with an artist to show what they liked to do and what would make the Greater Dandenong Children’s Festival the best festival in Melbourne.
