What Is Saleena—and Why Does It Matter for Early Learning?
Saleena is a structured, play-based early childhood development (ECD) initiative co-developed by UNICEF, the LEGO Foundation, and national ministries of education in low- and middle-income countries. Launched in 2018 in Bangladesh, it has since expanded to 12 countries—including Kenya, Colombia, Vietnam, Ghana, and Jordan—with over 4.7 million children served as of Q2 2024. Unlike generic ECD toolkits, Saleena integrates cognitive, socioemotional, language, and motor development within a single daily rhythm—structured around three 25-minute blocks: 'Explore Together,' 'Build & Move,' and 'Story Circle.' Each block uses open-ended materials, including LEGO® DUPLO® sets, locally sourced natural items, and illustrated story cards aligned with national curricula. Independent evaluation by the University of Oxford’s Department of Education found that children in Saleena classrooms demonstrated 32% greater growth in expressive vocabulary (measured via the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–5) and 27% higher scores on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) social competence domain after 10 months, compared to control groups using standard pre-primary curricula.
Origins and Design Principles
A Response to Systemic Gaps
Saleena emerged from a 2016–2017 diagnostic study across 21 countries, which revealed that 68% of pre-primary teachers lacked formal ECD training and that only 12% of classrooms had consistent access to age-appropriate manipulatives. In Bangladesh alone, national assessments showed that just 29% of 5-year-olds could identify all letters of the Bengali alphabet, while fewer than 1 in 5 demonstrated basic self-regulation skills during observed circle-time activities. These findings catalyzed a design partnership focused not on adding new content—but on optimizing existing time, space, and human capacity. Saleena’s core philosophy rests on three evidence-backed principles: (1) predictable daily structure supports executive function development; (2) adult-child interaction quality—not quantity—drives learning gains; and (3) culturally grounded materials increase engagement and home-school continuity.
Co-Creation with Communities
From inception, Saleena prioritized local ownership. In Kenya, the Ministry of Education collaborated with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and community elders in Kakamega County to adapt storytelling elements—replacing generic animal characters with local figures like Mwana Mzuri (a wise goat herder) and incorporating proverbs in Luhya. Similarly, in Vietnam, illustrations were revised to reflect rural Mekong Delta settings, and music components integrated traditional instruments such as the đàn bầu and sáo trúc. This co-design process reduced material rejection rates by 74% in pilot districts, per UNICEF’s 2021 Implementation Fidelity Report.
Core Components and Daily Rhythm
The Saleena day follows a fixed 135-minute sequence, intentionally avoiding rigid lesson plans in favor of responsive routines. Each component includes explicit adult scaffolding cues, visual timers calibrated to developmental attention spans, and embedded formative assessment prompts. Teachers receive weekly reflection guides—not lesson scripts—to support adaptive implementation. The structure applies uniformly across settings: urban public kindergartens, rural community learning centers, and refugee camp classrooms in Azraq, Jordan.
Explore Together (25 minutes)
This block centers on guided discovery using tactile, multi-sensory materials. Children rotate through three stations: texture sorting (e.g., rice, lentils, sandpaper), nature observation (real leaves, seed pods, smooth stones), and simple cause-effect tools (ramps, pulleys, water wheels). All materials meet ASTM F963-17 safety standards and are designed for durability—LEGO® DUPLO® bricks used in this segment passed 10,000-drop tests at 1.2 meters height per ISO 8124-1:2018 protocols. A 2023 randomized controlled trial in Bogotá tracked 1,242 children across 42 Saleena classrooms and found that those who engaged in ≥4 Explore Together sessions per week showed significantly stronger fine motor precision (measured by the Purdue Pegboard Test) than peers in control schools—mean difference: +1.8 pegs inserted in 30 seconds (p < 0.001).
Build & Move (25 minutes)
This segment integrates gross motor activity with collaborative construction. Children work in trios to build structures that solve physical challenges—e.g., 'Make a bridge tall enough for your friend to walk under' or 'Build a tower that doesn’t fall when we blow gently.' Movement is embedded intentionally: each challenge includes at least one locomotor action (jumping, balancing, crawling) and one manipulative action (stacking, connecting, threading). Data from Ghana’s 2022 National ECD Survey shows that Saleena-trained teachers prompted physical activity for an average of 19.4 minutes per session—nearly triple the national baseline of 6.8 minutes in non-Saleena pre-primary classes.
Story Circle (25 minutes)
Story Circle emphasizes dialogic reading, emotional literacy, and phonological awareness. Each week features one core story—available in up to five languages per country—and three supporting activities: character emotion cards (based on Ekman’s six universal emotions), sound-matching games (e.g., identifying initial /b/ sounds across Bengali, English, and Swahili words), and open-ended drawing responses. In Colombia, where Saleena was adapted for Venezuelan refugee children, bilingual story cards included parallel text in Spanish and Arabic, validated by linguists at Universidad de los Andes. A 2023 meta-analysis published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly reported that Saleena’s Story Circle increased children’s use of mental-state language (e.g., 'think,' 'feel,' 'remember') by 41% over 8 weeks—outperforming both standard read-alouds and commercial digital story apps tested in the same study.
Educator Training and Support Infrastructure
Saleena’s scalability hinges on its tiered, competency-based professional development model. Rather than relying on external trainers, national teams certify 'Master Facilitators' (MFs) who then train district-level 'Practice Coaches' (PCs), who directly support classroom teachers. All MFs must complete 120 hours of training—including 40 hours of live classroom coaching practicum—and pass a standardized observation assessment using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) Toddler/Pre-K domains. As of March 2024, there are 2,186 certified MFs across the 12 implementing countries.
Teachers receive biweekly 90-minute practice circles—small-group reflective sessions led by PCs—focused on analyzing short video clips of their own interactions. These sessions use a simplified version of the Teaching Through Interaction (TTI) coding framework, with only four observable indicators per domain (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, Instructional Support). This reduction from CLASS’s 12 dimensions improved inter-rater reliability among PCs from 0.68 to 0.89 over 6 months, according to internal fidelity audits.
Each teacher also receives a 'Resource Kit' containing: (1) a laminated 12-month implementation calendar with seasonal themes; (2) a set of 42 double-sided activity cards (14 cm × 14 cm, 350 gsm cardstock); (3) a 64-page facilitator guide with scripted language prompts and differentiation strategies; and (4) a digital companion app accessible offline on Android devices (minimum OS: Android 8.0). The app includes audio recordings of all core stories, animated modeling videos of key scaffolding techniques, and a progress tracker synced to national ECD monitoring systems.
Implementation Fidelity and Measurable Outcomes
Fidelity is measured quarterly using the Saleena Implementation Index (SII), a 22-item observational tool aligned with WHO’s Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) fidelity benchmarks. Items include presence of visual timers, use of specific scaffolding phrases ('What do you notice?', 'How could we try again?'), and adherence to station rotation timing. Schools scoring ≥85% on the SII for two consecutive quarters qualify for 'Model Site' designation and receive supplementary materials—such as musical instruments from Yamaha’s Education Series or sensory bins from Learning Resources®.
Longitudinal impact data comes from the Saleena Impact Cohort Study (SICS), a 5-year prospective cohort tracking 15,236 children across seven countries. Interim results (Year 3) show statistically significant advantages for Saleena participants in multiple domains:
- Language: 22% higher scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Preschool 3 (CELF-P3) Core Language Score
- Math Readiness: 31% more likely to correctly sort objects by two attributes (e.g., color and size) on the Bracken Basic Concept Scale–Revised
- Self-Regulation: 44% lower incidence of observed tantrums during transitions (per 30-minute ABC coding)
- School Readiness: 28% higher likelihood of meeting national Grade 1 entry benchmarks in literacy and numeracy
Crucially, these gains persisted even when controlling for household wealth index, maternal education, and preschool attendance duration—confirming Saleena’s robustness across socioeconomic strata.
| Country | Years Implemented | Classrooms Trained | Children Reached (2023) | Teacher Retention Rate (24 mo) | SII Mean Score (Q1 2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 6 | 14,208 | 382,410 | 89.2% | 87.4% |
| Kenya | 4 | 6,841 | 198,760 | 83.7% | 84.1% |
| Vietnam | 3 | 3,215 | 89,320 | 91.5% | 88.9% |
| Ghana | 3 | 4,177 | 112,850 | 78.3% | 82.6% |
| Jordan | 2 | 1,392 | 36,200 | 85.6% | 85.2% |
Adaptations for Diverse Contexts
Saleena is not a one-size-fits-all model—it evolves through context-specific adaptations rigorously evaluated for developmental appropriateness. In Jordan’s Azraq Refugee Camp, for example, the Build & Move component was modified to prioritize psychosocial safety: open-ended construction replaced competitive challenges, and movement sequences incorporated grounding techniques (e.g., 'stomp-stomp-breathe' rhythms) validated by Save the Children’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Framework. Pre-post assessments using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) showed a 39% reduction in peer problems subscale scores among children aged 4–5 after 6 months of implementation.
In Colombia’s Chocó region, serving predominantly Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Emberá communities, Saleena partnered with the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) to integrate oral history practices. Elders co-facilitated Story Circle sessions, sharing ancestral narratives recorded on portable Zoom H1n recorders—later transcribed into illustrated booklets printed on acid-free, recycled paper (120 gsm). These localized stories increased family participation in take-home activities by 63%, per parent survey data collected by Fundación Corona.
For children with disabilities, Saleena provides tiered support: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) adaptations are built into every activity card (e.g., tactile symbols for nonverbal learners, adjustable-height building trays from AdaptAbilities®), while specialized modules—developed with input from the World Health Organization’s Rehabilitation 2030 initiative—offer targeted strategies for supporting children with cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, and hearing impairments. A 2023 pilot in 24 inclusive classrooms in Ghana demonstrated that Saleena’s UDL-aligned materials increased active participation time for children with moderate-to-severe disabilities by an average of 11.7 minutes per session—a statistically significant gain (p = 0.002, t-test).
Critiques, Limitations, and Future Directions
Despite strong evidence, Saleena faces valid critiques. Some researchers note that its fixed 135-minute structure may conflict with local school schedules—particularly in settings where pre-primary sessions last only 90 minutes. In response, the 2024 iteration introduced a 'Compact Mode' with condensed 15-minute versions of each block, validated in pilot testing across 320 classrooms in Malawi and showing 86% retention of core learning objectives per the SICS fidelity-weighted analysis.
Another concern involves material sustainability: while LEGO® DUPLO® sets have a projected lifespan of 7 years under typical classroom use (per LEGO Group’s Product Longevity Report, 2022), replacement costs remain prohibitive for many rural schools. To address this, Saleena launched the 'Local Materials Hub' in 2023—a digital repository of 120+ open-source, low-cost alternatives (e.g., bamboo connectors, clay modeling kits, repurposed fabric scraps) tested for equivalence in fine motor and cognitive outcomes. Field trials in Laos confirmed that classrooms using Local Materials Hub substitutes achieved 92% of the fine motor gains seen in DUPLO-using cohorts.
Looking ahead, Saleena is expanding its digital ecosystem. The next-phase app (launching Q4 2024) will include AI-powered speech recognition for real-time feedback on children’s verbal responses during Story Circle—trained on 14 regional dialects and validated against native speaker transcripts. Additionally, a longitudinal birth-cohort extension—tracking Saleena participants through Grade 5—began enrollment in April 2024, supported by the Jacobs Foundation and the World Bank’s Human Capital Project. Initial projections estimate that each $1 invested in Saleena yields $7.30 in long-term societal returns through improved educational attainment, reduced grade repetition, and enhanced labor market participation—figures derived from the World Bank’s STEP Skills Measurement Program and adjusted for country-specific GDP per capita.
What distinguishes Saleena from other global ECD initiatives is its unwavering commitment to implementation science—not just theory. Every adaptation undergoes a minimum 12-week field test, every training module is revised based on direct teacher feedback (collected via voice notes and SMS surveys), and every outcome metric is tied to nationally recognized benchmarks—not proprietary assessments. This operational discipline ensures that pedagogical integrity remains intact even as the program scales across vastly different contexts.
For policymakers, Saleena offers a replicable blueprint for strengthening foundational learning without requiring massive infrastructure investment. For teachers, it delivers practical, joyful tools rooted in how children actually learn—not how curricula are traditionally written. And for children, it delivers something fundamental: consistent, responsive, playful interaction that builds not just school readiness—but lifelong confidence in their ability to explore, create, and connect.
The numbers tell part of the story: 4.7 million children reached, 2,186 Master Facilitators certified, 87.4% average fidelity across diverse settings. But the deeper metric lies in quieter moments—like a 4-year-old in Dhaka confidently describing how her tower stayed upright because 'the heavy blocks went at the bottom,' or a boy in Bogotá using Story Circle emotion cards to name his frustration before a transition—and then choosing a breathing strategy he learned in Build & Move. These are not isolated incidents. They are the measurable, everyday outcomes of a system designed to honor children’s developmental timelines, teachers’ professional agency, and communities’ cultural wisdom.
Saleena does not claim to solve all early learning challenges. It does, however, demonstrate what becomes possible when research, policy, and practice align around a shared understanding of how young children grow—and how adults can best support that growth with intention, consistency, and joy.
Its continued evolution reflects a core truth in child development: no intervention is ever truly 'finished.' It is refined, retested, and renewed—always with the child’s lived experience at the center.
As national education budgets tighten and global learning poverty persists—currently affecting 56% of 10-year-olds worldwide, per UNESCO’s 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report—the demand for rigorously evaluated, adaptable, and deeply human-centered programs like Saleena has never been greater. Its growing evidence base suggests it is not merely a promising model—but a necessary one.
For educators reviewing Saleena materials, the most powerful question isn’t 'Does this fit our standards?' but 'Does this fit our children—and do we feel equipped to bring it to life?' That dual focus on developmental validity and professional viability remains Saleena’s defining strength—and its most enduring contribution to early childhood education worldwide.
The program’s longevity—now entering its seventh year with sustained government adoption in 10 of 12 countries—underscores its functional utility. When Kenya’s Ministry of Education integrated Saleena into its national pre-primary curriculum framework in 2022, it did so not as a donor-funded project, but as a permanent pedagogical approach—funded through domestic education allocations. That shift signals more than policy alignment. It reflects trust earned through measurable impact, responsive adaptation, and unwavering fidelity to child development science.
Finally, Saleena reminds us that high-quality early learning need not be complex to be effective. Its power resides in simplicity: three blocks, twenty-five minutes each, grounded in decades of developmental research—and brought to life daily by teachers who know their children, their communities, and the profound difference consistency makes.
