(VNF) - A Toy Library, packed full of colourful toys that teach children about color and spatial perception, opened recently at the Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedics & Rehabilitation Hospital.

On April 4^th, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO) officially launched the 10^th toy library in Vietnam and the very first toy library in a hospital setting.

Official opening day of the toy library at the Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedics & Rehabilitation Hospital. (Photo: WWO Vietnam)

WWO toy library will be integrated in the existing early intervention program of the Hospital’s Mental Health Department and will play a crucial role in improving young patients’ development domains such as motor, cognitive, emotional, and social skills. The parents, who will be playing in pairs with their child, are expected to benefit from this cathartic experience, as play is the most effective stress relief activity and to play is to be healed.

The toys, which meet international safety standards, will help the children improve the process of thinking and learning, small and large muscle movements and communication as well as manage emotions, according to the WWO.

WWO Vietnam is partnered with the Orthopedics & Rehabilitation Hospital – HCMC for this project. The Hospital’s staff had built the toy library with WWO team from scratch.

Children plays at the Toy Library. (Photo: WWO Vietnam)

The Toy Library is part of the centre's programme, the Comprehensive Care for Orphan, Children and Adolescents with Disability and Special Needs.

It is based on a model developed in the U.S. during the Great Depression and in Scandinavia in the 1960s for children with special needs.

WWO launched the first Toy Library in Vietnam at Tam Binh Orphanage, home to nearly 200 children, in Ho Chi Minh City in 2014./.

Translated by Hien Trinh