A research project about making memories of children’s play, studying the relationship between object-based play and childhood language acquisition and the impact on readiness for school. Communication skills are critical to the ability to connect, enjoy and learn from day one. This project will extend over two years to enable children and families involved in the project to be observed at entry to school.
This project is an extension of a pilot study that was carried out in 2023 in Plymouth, where families were invited to develop play materials and continue to use them in home settings. The overall aim is to support the wider goal of improving the provision of creative learning opportunities for early years children and thereby enhance their readiness to enter formal education. Within this overarching goal, the project pursues two subsidiary aims:
- Enhance the capacity of early years professionals, and the early years sector of Plymouth as a whole, to undertake collaborative creative activities with parents and children and evaluate the effectiveness of these activities.
- Enhance the capacity of parents to facilitate the creative learning of children by transferring play activities from early years settings into home environments.
The project will be set in council early years settings and use their role to extend the learning to offer support to early years setting professionals in Plymouth.
Contact Rebecca Carter-Dillon [email protected]
Working with: Plymouth City Council Education, Participation and Skills, early years settings (Plym Bridge Nursery School and others) and the University of Plymouth