by Maja Cimerman Sitar, EduSkills+.
When we think about media manipulation, we often picture advanced editing software, fake news, or AI-generated deepfakes. But for me, the question starts much earlier and much simpler: can a four or five-year-old understand that a photo might not show what really happened?
This question is at the heart of Where Was I?, one of the hands-on activities we’ve developed as part of the Eduskills+Media project. It’s a playful yet powerful introduction to visual manipulation, and it all starts with a camera, a glue stick, a pair of scissors and a healthy dose of imagination.
Making the impossible real
The activity begins with a photo session. We take simple portrait photos of the children against a neutral background, and we gather various background images – real or imaginary. These could be scenes from a forest, a desert, a movie set, or a bustling city square.
Then comes the fun part: we print everything out, and the children cut out their own portraits. They place themselves into entirely new settings, for example on the moon, in the jungle, or on top of the Eifel Tower. We photograph these new collages, print them again, and display them as if they were snapshots from real life.
During the final refection, we ask questions like: Were you really in all these places? How can a photo show something that never happened? This leads to laughter, storytelling, and surprise, but also to thoughtful discussions about how easily images can be constructed, edited, or manipulated.
Are young children ready for Media Education?
We’re often asked whether young children are “too small” for media education. But our kindergarten teachers answer with confidence: they’re already media users. They scroll through images with their parents, watch videos, and interpret pictures in books or on screens. They’re not passive, they’re thinking, reacting, and creating from the very beginning.
That’s why our approach with Eduskills+Media is not to teach “correct” interpretations. Instead, we invite children to play, experiment, and reflect. Activities like Where Was I? work so well because they blend fun with insight. They don’t preach but spark curiosity.
A camera as a Media Literacy tool
The tool our kindergarten teachers use most is the photo camera. In my view, it’s a perfect entry point for media literacy. It’s accessible, intuitive, and empowering. Even very young children can take photos and feel proud of their work.
The camera encourages children to observe more closely, to document, and to express themselves. It becomes both a lens for exploring the world and a tool for understanding how media shapes what we see.
A toolbox built on experience
Where Was I? is just one of many activities available through the Eduskills+Media portal, a growing collection of free, practical resources for kindergarten educators. All activities are based on real experiences from classrooms across several countries.
We’ve worked hard to make the activities diverse, adaptable, and easy to use. The material also includes background info, templates, and suggestons for adjustng actvites to local contexts or special needs. And it’s all openly accessible.
Building media skills together: the Media2 Project
Through testing our activities and working with kindergartens, we saw a clear need to involve families more deeply. Media is not just present at kindergarten or school, it is even more present as part of daily life at home, on the go, and everywhere in between. So we began to ask: how can kindergartens and parents learn about media together?
That’s the thinking behind our new initatve, Eduskills+ Media2 – Building Media Skills Together, which is co-financed by Erasmus+. It’s a continuation of the Eduskills+Media approach, but it expands the learning circle to include parents as co-learners and co-educators.
With Media2, we’re piloting new tools and formats that bring children, educators, and families into joint refection. We don’t want to preach to parents, we want to create opportunites to pause, think, and become more aware of our media habits together.
Our goal is to make media education a natural part of growing up, not an add-on or a special subject. And we believe this is only possible if we build bridges between kindergartens and homes.
If you’re working in early educaton, media literacy, or creatve pedagogy, I warmly invite you to explore the actvites on our portal. You don’t need special equipment or training – just curiosity, openness, and a willingness to let children lead the way.
Explore more:
- The activity Where was I?
- The portal Eduskills+ Media
- Our new project
If you’re interested in exchanging ideas, contributing materials, or learning more about our work, feel free to reach out through the website.
Let’s help the next generation grow up not only using media, but understanding it – and using it as a creative tool for self-expression and discovery.
Author
Maja Cimerman Sitar is a project coordinator and editor of the EduSkills+ portal, an educational platform that supports kindergartens and schools in developing children’s competences in media literacy, social learning, and emotional development. She collaborates with educators and families to design hands-on, reflective activities that empower children to explore the world around them with curiosity and critical thinking.
