Scilla Edmonds on Inspiring Young Minds to Be Sustainable Change-Makers

Photo Credit: Supplied by The Domino Foundation (Caption: Innovator and educationalist, Scilla Edmonds (right) with Thembelihle Mkhwanazi at The Domino Foundation’s workshop for Early Childhood Development practitioners.)

Scilla Edmonds, a passionate advocate for early childhood education, believes in nurturing young minds to become sustainable change-makers. She emphasises the importance of fostering curiosity and critical thinking from a young age, encouraging children to question the world around them and challenge the status quo.

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (05 January 2025) – A wise man once said that teaching is not about answering questions but rather about raising questions.

In her almost half-century of actively inspiring young children to be inquisitive about the world around them, Scilla Edmonds has grown in her desire to see her watchword, ‘Be Sustainably Yours’, become a reality for every child, parent, teacher and school she comes across.

For Scilla, Sustainability should be a concept established in a child’s preschool years by having it firmly established in the curriculum, and children should be encouraged to be active agents in environmental and sustainability issues.

Recently, Scilla shared on “Sustainability and Entrepreneurship in the Early Years” with owners and educators from 45 Early Childhood Development centres in underserved communities at a quarterly workshop organised by The Domino Foundation.

“From the early years, children must be prepared to deal with challenges with confidence, be encouraged to know they have the means to do anything they choose in life,” she shared.

The educationalist maintains that, from the outset of their education journey, children also need to learn the value of money:

“That is as much a life skill as communication, initiative and problem-solving as a prelude to learning to read and write. Budgeting and saving should be taught by parents and grandparents and in the ECDs.”

Author of a number of books intended to inspire small acts of sustainability, she entitled one of them Be Smart, Be Money-Wise – A guide for young entrepreneurs.

“Educators and parents need to see that children should be encouraged not to meekly accept the status quo in which they are being raised. They should know they can be change-makers and achieve whatever is important to them,” Scilla advises.
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During the workshop, she added that her mission is to encourage schools at every level (and even adults going through challenges) to think differently and to see possibilities not considered before.

As a practical demonstration and using just a pair of scissors to demonstrate how simple encouraging enterprise can be, Scilla turned a discarded paper cup into a cute product the children could sell.

She challenged the ECD practitioners to see waste differently and that there are great possibilities in recycling.

To underline this, she pointed to the skins of fruit the participants had eaten during the day and then tossed them into a bin: “We could turn that into liquid compost or some other useful product!” she said.

Scilla ended the presentation by challenging everyone present to embrace their critical responsibility to children to include and develop early business skills by starting their own green business at the ECD level.

Her message is a powerful one: that every child has the potential to make a difference, and that by nurturing their curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit, we can inspire a generation of innovators who will create a more sustainable and equitable world!

For more information email Scila at scillaedmonds@vodamail.co.za. or Domino’s ECD programme at ecd@domino.org.za.