Universe in a Box: Inspiring every child with our wonderful Cosmos

Leiden University's Universe Awareness educational program has launched an innovative Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign this week at the 13th International Conference on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST 2014) in Brazil. The campaign will support the efforts of Universe Awareness to share the educational toolkit, Universe in a Box, with underprivileged communities around the world.

The Universe in a Box is an educational kit designed to assist teachers and educators in bringing astronomy and space sciences to 4-10 year old children around the world. Universe in a Box was developed to meet a demand for practical, interactive, and fun resources to bring astronomy to the classroom. Pedro Russo, Universe Awareness International Project Manager explains: "The idea behind Universe Awareness is to use the beauty and grandeur of the universe to encourage young children to have an interest in science and technology and foster their sense of global citizenship from the earliest age. The Universe in a Box is the materialization of this idea."

Universe in a Box provides teachers and educators with over 40 practical activities as well as the materials and models required to do them. The funds raised by the campaign will be used to distribute an educational toolkit, Universe in a Box, to underprivileged communities and train primary school teachers to use it. The Kickstarter campaign runs from 9 May until 10 June and aims to raise €15,000. It is one of the first Kickstarter campaigns in the Netherlands, where the crowdfunding platform was launched last week.