University Students Develop Finger Dolls For Children's Education

JAKARTA, May 17 (Antara) - Five students from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta have developed a learning media using finger dolls called Inofid (Interactive Book with Finger Dolls) for children. A statement from UGM received by Antara here, Tuesday, mentioned that this learning tool was made keeping in mind the current preferences of children, who prefer electronic devices to games or toys. "Most children use gadgets to play games. So, we developed an interesting and interactive reading product," Yogi Hasna Meisyarah, a member of the Inofid development team, said. Inofid is a storybook that comes with finger dolls to facilitate children's learning activities while playing, and it aims to boost their cognitive abilities. Besides Yogi, the other students who are part of the Inofid team are Daryatul Choiriyah, Indah Jana Permana Devrin, Lasmaida F Br BB and Rakananditya Said. The five students work in the Entrepreneurship Student Creativity Program Group of UGM. Finger dolls, Yogi explained, are useful to improve imagination, creativity and fine motoric skills, thus covering all aspects of children's cognitive abilities. "Inofid storybook can deepen the relationship of parents or caregivers with children, as well as build the character of the children through the moral messages delivered in the stories," he added. Yogi and his colleagues want to support the development of children during their crucial growth phase that occurs between 0 and 5 years. At that time, which is called the golden age, he pointed out, children develop their language skills, creativity, social awareness, emotion and intelligence. The advantages of Inofid are its interesting colorful designs and drawings, easy to understand stories for children, which contain moral messages about everyday activities that can build their character. Inofid is being sold at an affordable price. Currently, they have made 100 Inofid to be marketed to parents through cooperation with kindergarten and early childhood educational centers