How Ecogames Play for Care Works in Post Disaster Settings

Following flooding and landslides in Aceh Tamiang, Ecogames designed and delivered Play for Care, a play-based emotional support programme for children, in partnership with KUN Humanity System+ and with support from Nuanu Social Fund.

Between January 2 and 17, 2026, the programme reached 248 children aged two to thirteen across five villages: Desa Alur Tani 1, Tanjung Gelumpang, Sunting, Serba and Pengidam.

The approach was built on a simple premise: children process trauma through experience rather than words. Rather than talk-based support, sessions used drawing, storytelling and structured play to give children a way to re-engage on their own terms, at their own pace.

Delivery followed four stages. Ecogames and KUN first coordinated to align on the tools, roles and field conditions. Facilitators then completed online training in trauma-sensitive engagement. Play sessions followed across all five villages, adapted in real time to each community's readiness and circumstances. Throughout, facilitators documented observations to inform future programming.

The toolkit itself was designed specifically for low-resource, unpredictable field conditions. It featured a facilitation guide, six types of creative activity sheets, and games including Colour Hunt, Apa itu Aku?, Pollinate 8, and MuZe Cubes, a storytelling tool already used by KUN in previous disaster responses. Materials were available in both English and Bahasa Indonesia.

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Participation grew across the programme, from around 12 children in the first session to 110 in the last. Teachers and parents played alongside the children; in one case, a village chief joined in too. Facilitators reported children forming stronger peer support and connecting activities directly to their own experience. In several villages, facilitators independently noted that children were articulating an understanding of the relationship between human action and environmental impact.

The programme's flexibility proved essential. KUN's team was simultaneously coordinating medical aid and back-to-school support, so Play for Care sessions had to fit into an already dynamic response rather than run on a fixed schedule. The modular design of the toolkit allowed facilitators to adapt the length and format of sessions without losing the trauma-sensitive core of the approach.

Play for Care demonstrates a model for how education and psychosocial support tools can operate inside a live disaster response that is low-resource, facilitator-led, and responsive to what each community and each child is ready for on a given day.