Sesame Workshop and the LEGO Foundation are helping parents to play! The two educational organizations recently conducted a multi-country research project that evaluated the Play Every Day program.
What is the Play Every Day program? Sesame Workshop and the LEGO Foundation created this global initiative as a way to help parents and caregivers better understand the value of play when it comes to early childhood education and development. During the 12-week program period, Sesame Workshop sent pros into the homes of families in low-resource communities (in India, Mexico and South Africa) to help the adults learn about play and here’s what the perfectly playful partners found!
Our own Abby Bucuvalas & Shanna Kohn recently traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh for a content co-creation workshop w/ @BRACWorld to discuss future content for our learning-through-play program for children affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis funded by the @legofoundation. pic.twitter.com/8rbRt04Aax
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) May 28, 2019
The evaluation revealed the importance of helping parents to better understand the what’s, why’s and how’s of play. Parents in all three countries played more often with their children, reported increased confidence in acting as “play mentors” to their children and reported increased confidence in using recycled materials as play objects.
Dr. Kim Foulds, Senior Director of International Research and Evaluation, Sesame Workshop, said in a press statement, “Our research findings affirm the potential of the Play Every Day model to improve knowledge about play and influence play related behavior among caregivers and children, particularly in low-resource settings.”
Foulds went on to add, “Given that existing global literature on playful learning best practices is predominantly focused on research in western developed countries, we’re excited to share our findings and contribute to the growing body of evidence attesting to the impact of learning through play.”
“Play Every Day has taught me about respecting my child, listening to him, trusting him, and being committed to him.” Learn more about the results of our program with the @LEGOfoundation: https://t.co/KPmiy0V1BU #WorldPlayDay pic.twitter.com/4K3b73Usuj
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) May 28, 2019
Along with helping the families in the pilot program play, Sesame Workshop and the LEGO Foundation will use the research findings to guide future programming, including a $100 million humanitarian play program that will support children impacted by the Rohingya and Syrian refugee crises, as well as families in South Africa.
—Erica Loop
Featured photo: Sesame Street via YouTube
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