Kuala lumpur: A private kindergarten is using its TKI Warriors Camp: National Heroes Mission programme to instil patriotism in six-year-olds through creative hands-on National Month activities. The programme gives children the opportunity to explore patriotic values through activities such as crawling through obstacles, following clues, solving codes, searching for 'National Treasure' and rescuing the Jalur Gemilang as a team.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Khalifah Intelek Kindergarten chief operating officer Afirah Tul Abidah Taufik said the activities are a medium to instil positive values such as courage, discipline, leadership, resilience, teamwork, and perseverance. "Concepts like colonisation, sovereignty, and the struggle for independence are abstract for six-year-olds. That is why storytelling, games, symbols, and hands-on experiences are more effective in helping them understand," she explained.

Afirah noted that while children may not grasp the full history of independence, they can already feel what it means to be brave, to work as a team, to take responsibility, and to feel pride and love for their country. She emphasized that patriotism education at an early age should not only be limited to National Month celebrations through activities like waving the Jalur Gemilang, coloring flags, or singing patriotic songs.

She suggested that kindergartens can instead start teaching children what it means to love their country through everyday experiences such as respecting teachers and friends, helping those in need, maintaining cleanliness, and being responsible for themselves. "At this early age, character, values, and identity are still forming. So before we expect them to grasp big ideas like love for the nation, we need to start with what is closest to them," Afirah added.

Afirah highlighted that such an approach is important because children should not have to wait until they are older to be introduced to the concept of patriotism.