This past February was ‘Mobility & Transportation’ month in my ‘English Time’ classrooms at the bilingual Polish-English school where I currently work with grades 1-3.
We spent a considerable amount of time talking about transportation, looking at different public transportation modes, and of course also talking about ‘softer’ modes of mobility. I adore the art that 1st graders created to depict these modes (a couple of examples below)!
Shaping awareness and appreciation for more sustainable modes of mobility from a young age is part of a sustainable urbanism paradigm shift.
It should come as no surprise that I could easily create several months of learning and creative activities related to this theme. I really enjoy the Teletubbies ‘My Dad’s a Tram Driver’ episode, with very down-to-earth, relaxing, and engaging clips of a young girl boarding and riding a tram that her dad drives, with her mom. The kids may have never had a teacher so thrilled to show them a video about a tram!
In October 2024, I conducted my 1st ‘Neighborhood Mobility’ workshop for children (age 5 & 6). In 2023, as part of my dissertation fieldwork, I conceptualized and facilitated 20 urban mobility workshops in neighborhoods across Warsaw. Through that fieldwork experience, I learned how much I love engaging with community and facilitating workshops of diverse generations, backgrounds, and mindsets.
Hosting a workshop with young children is so special to me, as there is a very special and clear directness in communication. The children just say what they think and share their curiosity openly. I also love reading children’s books and seeing children-created art come alive, so this particular workshop, focused on both neighborhood life and mobilities, was both insightful & a lot of fun.
We started with a great conversation circle, talking about how we get to school (walking, cycling, scooting, public transportation, car).
We also talked about what we love about walking around the neighborhood – the kids shared diverse things such as seeing leaves and nature, seeing dogs and cats, and feeling the weather.
I read two children’s books to them- ‘ Bye Car’ by Naomi Danis and illustrated by Daniel Rieley and ‚Last Stop on Market Street’ by Matt de la Peña & illustrated by Christian Robinson.
Finally, the kids drew pictures depicting aspects of neighborhood life and mobility. I absolutely love engaging with different groups and age groups on these topics!
‘Mobility’ is one of the core modules in the ‘Sustainable Urbanism & Planetary Health’ curriculum I am developing at Pedestrian Space, indeed, with the express purpose of a whole learning module with age-appropriate educational and creative activities designed for students to explore the topic of mobility.
The curriculum is designed with older students having a community-immersed experience with self-directed and group projects or internships, and younger students having more of a mix of a creative and learning adventure at their school home base, with community immersion via project field trips.
Later this year, I’ll be piloting the Pedestrian Space ‘Sustainable Urbanism & Planetary Health’ curriculum.
One of my pilot partners is a school for youth on the autism spectrum, and we’ve decided together to choose the ‘Mobility’ module for the pilot, focusing in particular on ‘Public Transportation’, a topic that many of them are also passionate about.
I’m excited to pilot a ‘Public Transportation’ mobility module for this group of students, exploring existing options in the city, but also learning about public transportation in other cities.
In my current classes with primary school students, during February 2026 and the ‘Mobility & Transportation’ theme, I showed them diverse public transport modes. They were completely wowed by images of suspended rail and also intrigued that in some other places, ferries are part of the public transport system.
This particular pilot is additionally meaningful to me as I know many of these students will grow up not able to drive and thus also dependent on walkable and bikeable community spaces and convenient, affordable, and accessible public transportation systems. Shaping awareness and appreciation for more sustainable modes of mobility from a young age is part of a sustainable urbanism paradigm shift.
~Annika
