Laila teaches through play and builds connection

I am a social worker and coordinator of the schritt:weise location near Bern, Switzerland. When I fi rst joined schritt:weise, I thought I understood what “learning through play” meant. But everything changed the day I stepped into Samira’s apartment.

She had arrived from Morocco years earlier, yet her world in Switzerland had remained painfully small. At our fi rst home visit, she burst into tears—in two years, nobody outside her family had visited her. In that moment, I realised how much more our work offered than toys or activities: it offered connection.

Week by week, I watched her son discover puzzles, picture books, and games he had never experienced before. I watched Samira’s confidence slowly stretch and unfold. She began attending our group meetings, first listening quietly, then asking questions, and eventually laughing with the other mothers.

Soon, she was borrowing books from the library and reading them to her son—proudly telling me how her own German was improving.

Eighteen months later, Samira was running parent cafés in her neighbourhood, encouraging other isolated mothers to join schritt:weise. Families began coming to us because of her.

There are many stories like Samira’s. Each time I knock on a door, I step into a new culture, a new world. And every family reminds me that small moments—shared play, a conversation, a visit—can change a life.