At Little Heroes, organised by Suffix and powered by IKEA, Elisa Albendea, IKEA Brand & CMI Director for Kuwait, Jordan and Morocco, discusses why children’s achievement deserves a broader definition, encompassing confidence, discovery and learning to participate alongside others.
A child can leave a competition without a medal and still have achieved something important. There may have been a fear to overcome, an unfamiliar activity to attempt or a disappointing result to accept. Those achievements rarely appear on a scoreboard, but they matter to how children understand their abilities.
At Little Heroes in Kuwait, that broader definition of success is central to the purpose described by IKEA for its involvement. Organised by Suffix and powered by IKEA, the Olympic-inspired event brings children and families together around sport. It also raises a question for the adults watching: what, exactly, should they be celebrating?
Speaking to Diwaniya Media at the event, Elisa Albendea, IKEA Brand & CMI Director for Kuwait, Jordan and Morocco, placed participation, discovery and togetherness at the centre of her answer.
“We want all the kids to find their own strengths,” she said.
The distinction matters. Children arrive with different interests, abilities and levels of confidence. An experience that helps one child discover a competitive ambition might help another feel comfortable joining a game for the first time.
Why IKEA supports play beyond the home
Asked about the thinking behind the involvement of IKEA, Elisa began with family life.
“First of all, we are a family brand,” she said. “And Kuwait is a family country.”
Elisa also thanked Suffix for organising Little Heroes, powered by IKEA.
Her explanation brought together several aims: giving children time away from screens, creating an occasion for families to enjoy together and helping young participants discover an interest in sport. She also pointed to the easing heat, which makes outdoor activity more appealing.
That emphasis has a counterpart in the way IKEA discusses children’s lives at home. On its children’s room and play page for Kuwait, the company presents play as something that can happen throughout the home and involve adults as well as children. Its guidance sits alongside ideas for children’s spaces, everyday routines and safety.
Little Heroes takes that interest into a shared outdoor setting. In Elisa’s account, the connection is the time families spend together and the opportunities that time creates for children.
An enjoyable afternoon is one aim. Another is for a child to encounter an activity they want to return to, giving a brief introduction the possibility of becoming a lasting interest.
Taking play seriously
The importance of play extends beyond any individual event or brand. Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises children’s right to rest, leisure and play. That places play within the conditions children need to grow up, rather than treating it simply as a reward for completing other tasks.
There is also a developmental reason to protect that time. UNICEF explains that play supports motor, cognitive, social and emotional development. It describes shared play as a way for children and caregivers to build their relationship, and opportunities to solve problems as a source of accomplishment and confidence.
Organised sport is one setting in which some of those experiences can occur. Children encounter rules, make decisions, cooperate and respond to outcomes they cannot fully control.
Elisa returned to those experiences when explaining the values she hoped participants would take away. She spoke about learning through play and contribution, alongside togetherness, team play and fair play.
The significance lies partly in how immediate those lessons become. Taking turns means waiting while someone else participates. Fairness means accepting that the same rule applies when it is inconvenient. Cooperation means recognising that another child has a role in the experience too.
What deserves to be celebrated?
Elisa’s understanding of inclusion leaves room for competition and the emotions that come with it.
“You cannot always win, or you cannot always lose,” she said.
Winning can be exciting; losing can be disappointing. Learning to handle both is part of the development she described. The question is how adults acknowledge a result while also recognising the effort, persistence or confidence behind it.
Asked what a successful experience might look like, Elisa recalled a child who tried fencing at a previous Little Heroes event and subsequently became a regional champion. She credited that first opportunity to try the sport with helping the child discover an interest.
The account illustrates how consequential an introduction can become. It also raises a broader point about potential: adults cannot always know what will interest a child before the child has had an opportunity to explore it.
Yet a competitive title cannot be the measure of every worthwhile introduction. A child who discovers an activity they enjoy has gained something even if they never pursue it at an advanced level.
“If we are able to contribute to that, to a new passion, that is already a big success,” Elisa said.
Bringing the Olympic spirit within reach
An Olympic-inspired programme naturally evokes competition and achievement. For a children’s event, its wider value lies in making participation, effort and fair play meaningful at different levels of ability.
Democratising that spirit begins with giving children a place in the experience before anyone knows how well they will perform. It allows the hesitant beginner to belong alongside the confident participant.
Elisa explicitly identified diversity and inclusion among the aims of the initiative. Her emphasis on children finding their “own strengths” acknowledges that achievement will take different forms. The ambition is to create opportunities for those strengths to emerge.
Families have a role in how that experience is understood. A parent watching a child try something unfamiliar may notice persistence, curiosity or cooperation that has had little opportunity to appear elsewhere. The response from the sidelines helps communicate what matters.
That makes togetherness more than a backdrop to the sporting programme. It gives adults an opportunity to recognise a child’s effort while the experience is still unfolding, including when the result is disappointing.
The lasting effect becomes clearer afterwards: whether a child asks to play again, wants to learn more or feels ready to join another activity. For the family watching, the first achievement worth celebrating may simply be the moment that child decides to try.
