Missed the webinar? Click here for the webinar highlight. 

The climate crisis is a child’s rights crisis at its core. Protecting the youngest children across the globe is integral to the climate crisis response. This is the first in the series of global webinars on ECD and climate change from the Early Childhood Regional Networks - AfECN, ANECD, ARNEC and ISSA and Global Early Childhood Network ECDAN. With speakers from across the globe including youth advocates, climate experts and ECD practitioners, the webinar will explore the global impact of climate change and environmental degradation on young children, share some experiences from Africa and Asia Pacific regions, and agree on key messaging for COP27 (Egypt 7-18 Nov 2022 – Conference of the Parties, global climate summit), for the ECD and climate change agenda to include the youngest children in decision making.

Watch the webinar recording on https://youtu.be/KCZzWeWHiZ4

Click here to download presenation slides. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1emselR539M3_8TmBgMn59uzZZEVN7Z0k/view?usp=sharing

ARNEC makes this learning resource to ECD networks and partners in the region to amplify the playful parenting practices generated from the P2P experience in Bhutan. 

Our ask is for you to draw opportunities for adoption or localisation from this P2P resource as you design or enhance policies and programs promoting nurturing care, especially in the context of home-based and community-driven delivery of early childhood development services under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feel free to use this resource and to share with your own network of partners so we can broaden the community of policy makers and practitioners supporting playful parenting at the country level and the region.

Advocacy Series 1, Number 1

How do caregivers start building the future of young children through play?

Try doing this Tap, Tap, Tap game with young children from birth onwards. This is the first of a series of early stimulation tools and approaches drawn from the resources of the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. The P2P Projects aims to promote playful parenting to ensure the well-being of children and this learning resource is being shared outside Bhutan so that caregivers in the region and beyond have access to early stimulation tools, especially in the context of COVID-19-induced challenges in nurturing care and early childhood development. Click here to download.

Advocacy Series 1, Number 2

If you are concerned with the development of your child, talk to a health assistant. In Bhutan, health assistants (Has) use the Bhutan Child Development Screening Tool (BCDST) for the periodic screening of children from 2½ to 60 months covering developmental domains, such as physical development, communication/language, problem solving/cognition, and personal social development.

The screening tool is part of the HA’s normal immunization and growth monitoring visits and provides information whether or not the child exhibits certain skills or behaviours within four areas of developmental domain based on the responses of parents or caregivers. The screening information becomes useful in developing a child-specific plan for caregivers in addition to other support or referrals necessary.

For example, if the screening indicates a delay in the physical development of a baby under six months, the HA might recommend caregiver’s practice games like ‘Knock it down’in addition to making a referral to a specialist or making an appointment for further monitoring, depending on the specific needs of the child. Click here to download

Advocacy Series 1, Number 3

How do caregivers help young children learn that things are still there even if they cannot see them? Learn how to play with them through age-appropriate activities like ‘Lift the cloth’, which is among the playful parenting tools from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. Click here to download. 

Advocacy Series 1, Number 4

One of the behavioural changes P2P would like to influence is to engage fathers and male caregivers in their children’s development through playful parenting practices. The Walk, Walk, Stop activity is among the playful parenting tools from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. Click here to download

Advocacy Series 1, Number 5

What activity can be done by parents and caregivers to help develop babies’ attention span and vision? The ‘Magic Bag’ containing a set of black and white cards, among others, is a resource that can be used for playing with 2-month old babies. This is among the playful parenting tools from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. Click here to download.

Advocacy Series 1, Number 6

How can caregivers read to children with disabilities? Read the activity from from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation to learn how to make babies with disabilities strong and thrive in a playful family. Click here to download

Advocacy Series 1, Number 7

Instead of punishing a child, learn how to be calm, explain to a child, and model the desired behaviour. This is called the calm, explain, and model technique, which is part of the positive parenting practices from the the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. Click here to download.

Advocacy Series 1, Number 8

Why is it important to ensure the well-being of caregivers at all times and how do caregivers practice relaxation while taking care of their children and themselves? Read this activity resource among the playful parenting tools from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation. Click here to download.

P2P Advocacy Series #3

How do caregivers help young children learn that things are still there even if they cannot see them? Learn how to play with them through age-appropriate activities like ‘Lift the cloth’, which is among the playful parenting tools from the Prescription to Play (P2P) project implemented by Save the Children in Bhutan with the support of The LEGO Foundation.

Early childhood development (ECD) services have a strong, positive impact on children’s development. Research from diverse contexts shows that interventions that promote nurturing care in early learning environments significantly improve childhood development and later adult outcomes. Despite increasing knowledge on the benefits of ECD, however, much remains unknown about the early childhood workforce, the range of individuals across paid and unpaid roles who provide services to young children and their caregivers across the health, nutrition, education, and social and child protection sectors. 

Research supports that the workforce is one of the most important factors influencing the quality of ECD services. As such, ECWI is carrying out a series of global landscape analyses to illustrate the size and scope of the challenges faced by the early childhood workforce, while also highlighting promising practices countries have adopted in response to these challenges. 

To learn more about the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative (ECWI), please visit https://www.earlychildhoodworkforce.org/ 

Country study: 

(1) Singapore  

(2) Philippines