The long-running Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme has historically been the starting point for a number of innovative new business ideas.
And to add another entry to the list is a group of four teenagers from Pakuranga College.
Students Eric Irani, Lucas Greenwood, Joshua Hall and Aman Kumar created a product, labelled Hip Cards – Hello In a Pack of Cards – that helps children and adults learn different greetings from around the world.
Each card has a unique greeting from around the world.
After six months of development with local artist, designer and fellow Pakuranga College student Yachna Patel, the cards have officially been launched.
“We’ve taken an ordinary set of playing cards and made it into a learning resource for teachers in the classroom and parents,” Eric says.
There is an online video series in production where students from different backgrounds will be saying their respective greetings.
“We remember being back in primary in the classroom and the teacher would say ‘Good morning’ in a different greeting. That was our inspiration. We spoke to the Ministry of Ethnic Communities and they really backed the product.
“They said that 20 per cent of New Zealanders are from different backgrounds.
“That’s 1/5 people so it’s really important to make it more inclusive so we can at least greet them in their own language.”
The ministry is sending a film crew to Auckland this month to capture the exciting work the Hip Cards crew is doing, Eric says.
The Hip Cards team has been visiting schools to show their product. They’ve put a twist on classic card games such as Snap. Instead of saying Snap, the individual would say the country where the greeting is from, or the greeting itself.
“That’s the game the kids love the most!”
Or, for the older kids, they’ll play a version of Pictionary.
The team will be split into two and the guesser will have to guess the country the greeting is from or say the greeting of that country.
Hip Cards have been manufactured by East Tamaki business All About Design and Print. For more information, contact Hip Cards at hipcardsteam@gmail.com, or visit https://hipcards.mystorbie.com/
