Zé's Trambolhão

This little story was born in a daycare, in the two-year-old room.
This group of two-year-olds was quite charismatic and engaged in their play, exploring the areas of the room independently, with little interference from adults.
All this involvement and exploration led the children to spread the toys around the space, beyond the limits of each area. In fact, despite the adults' efforts, there was always a messy room with some children running around in it.
One day, during a carpet time, I invented this story to raise awareness among these children about the risk of running in the room with toys scattered on the floor.
The group showed so much interest that they asked me several times to tell the story again. They insisted so much that I ended up writing it down, but in verse, to make it more interesting and engaging for a group of this age range.
The adopted strategy had an effect. There were changes in behavior, as they started running much less in the room, they were more careful to keep the games within the limits of each area, and to pick up any toys that were on the floor, caring for their well-being and that of others.
Although this story emerged in the moment, it ended up becoming a good strategy to mitigate this problem. A problem that is common to any daycare and kindergarten room.
For this reason, and because there are very few children's stories in a classroom context, I believe that this story can be used as a working tool, in a didactic way, so that all professionals in the education field can explore it with their groups of children.

General Coordination Editorial Center | Cultural Direction

Author Soraia Pereira |  Santa Catarina Children's Park, Child Development Unit

Technical Text Bruno Caldeira | Proximity Development and Intervention Direction

Review Manuela Redondo | Editorial Center

Graphic Coordination Ana Graça Gomes | Communication Direction

Year of Publication: Nov., 2025
Publisher: Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa
ISBN:  9789899151871