Day 21 of #productidea — Experience old traditions in rural villages

This is part of my #productidea 30 day challenge on which each day I write about a new product idea.

This idea comes from two friends, Julio and María, who tried to build it 5 years ago. It’s a pity they couldn’t make it work because I believe it makes sense. Today, many Spanish families will return from spending Easter on their villages; this is a tribute to all the people who fight everyday for the survival of them.

A problem we are facing is the disconnection between urban and rural people. On one side we have more and more families who are raised on urban areas, with no connection to rural villages and whose children haven’t lived nearby animals, worked the land or built crafts. Some schools offer farm trips, but it may not be enough. This ad from Chips Ahoy! is a reflection of that. It’s a joke, but is it? It wouldn’t surprise me that some children think cookies come from directly from trees.

On the other side we have villages which are disappearing because industrialization requires less manual jobs, children are moving to cities and there are no activities or reasons to visit those villages.

The idea is to reconnect both sides by aggregating activities which families can enjoy on rural villages on their weekends or holidays. Some examples: be a shepherd for a day, shear a sheep, milk a cow, make a cheese, plant tomatoes, collect oranges, feed pigs, become a potter, build an adobe house, etc.

Many of those activities are now industrialized, but in fact, it would be a great opportunity to see how work has evolved. First they can do the manual job, and then visit the factory. If done well, it could help revitalize many villages and open the mind to many children and parents.