Bringing children's eyes to light is what Maximilian Felske from Peitingen wants. The social worker has come up with a special idea for this. The main role is played by classic stationery, lots of imagination and a curious guy named Max Chocolate.
Peiting - The guy looks cute, who looks ashamed or just a little shy behind a colorful circle. Except for the painted golden hair and the big eyes, there is not much to see from Max Chocolate. "Nothing more is known of him," says Maximilian Felske, who holds the logo with the main character of his new project in his hand. How big is it? How old is he? How he looks? Felske leaves the answers to these questions to others - the children for whom the social worker created his art figure.
Max Chocolate does not play the main role in a children's book, as one might think at first. Nevertheless, it all started with a children's book. As part of his studies of social work in Benediktbeuern, the Schongauer-born wrote a work for the young generation. The 32-year-old, who had only 15 years of training as a nanny and worked in various kindergartens, had always been enthusiastic about the child's world of thoughts before he did his secondary school diploma on the second path of education. “When I was working on the project, I noticed how nice it is to convey a message to the children.” Felske is fixed.
When working with an autistic boy, sparkling ideas arise
In Schongau, the social worker takes care of an autistic boy. The six-year-old punches his supervisor with questions. Where do the bees come from? What do the butterflies do in winter? Felske begins to write down his child-friendly answers in letter form. The response to the post has been overwhelming. "Every letter was a great experience for the boy," recalls Felske. An idea begins to ripen in him. What should go down well with a six-year-old should also inspire other children.
Peitingen takes a year to collect topics that could interest children. “I walked through the world with my eyes open.” Then the 32-year-old sits down and starts writing letters. He invents Max Schokoladen, who of course lives in an equally invented village with the funny name Lokomolumpa. The Max, of which there is no real picture, which only becomes reality in the children's imagination.
A new letter lands in the mailbox every week
In the end, there are 56 letters that the 32-year-old puts on paper. At the same time Felske, who is now working as a coach for a software company in Munich, is building up a small company to market his idea. The plan: For a certain amount per month, parents can bring Max Chocolate home to their children. For a whole year, a new letter with stories in Lokomolumpa ends up in the mailbox every week, personally addressed to the four to seven year olds. Felske sees the words on analog grass paper as a pleasant contrast to the increasingly fast-paced digital world. The ten minutes that parents should take to read aloud are a very valuable time for both sides, he says. It is also important to the social educator that the stories are not primarily about imparting knowledge. Rather, the stories should encourage children to grapple with their environment, to discover it.
First of all, the project is designed for one year, but the number of letters that Felske has written so far is enough. The goal is to reach as many children as possible, he says. "It is a nice idea that my thoughts fly to Berlin and be read there." And who knows what Max Chocolate and his creator still have to tell.
More information on Maximilian Felske's social education project is available on his website at www.briefevonmax.de.
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