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Category: Babies & Early Childhood (0-5)
Understanding and supporting mental health in infancy and early childhood: A PEDAL and UNICEF UK Toolkit
14 April 2023
There is widespread concern about babies’, children’s and young people’s mental health in the UK, particularly after the pandemic. Surveys of children, young people, parents, grandparents and teachers all reveal worries about mental health. Significant evidence shows us that the foundations for lifelong mental health are laid during pregnancy and the earliest years of life. Thankfully, this is more widely […]
Play, physical activity, and physical health
5 April 2023
How can active play help improve children's access to physical activity and their physical health?
ITAKOM Conference 2023: Moving towards a strengths-based approach to autism diagnostic assessment
16 March 2023
Neurodiversity-informed approaches enable us to move away from simply understanding autism in terms of difficulties. In this video, PEDAL PhD student Emma Pritchard-Rowe presents a summary of her research on holistic, strengths-based approaches to diagnostic assessment which centre autistic voices & have a positive impact on autistic people’s wellbeing and self-esteem. This poster was originally […]
Early Years Library
9 January 2023
Learn more about these free resources designed to help early childhood education practitioners support young children’s development of essential skills.
Narrative Matters: ‘Encanto’ and intergenerational trauma
20 September 2022
Read a summary of Sydney Conroy's publication about how themes in Encanto might support children's mental health.
The Links Between Play and Children’s Mental Health
8 September 2022
In this presentation, Professor Helen Dodd from the University of Exeter explains how play has changed over time, and explores how adventurous play might be considered a protective factors when it comes to children’s mental health. This talk formed part of the PEDAL Play Conference 2022, an event which brought together play researchers interested in […]
Using LEGO Bricks to Support Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Neurodivergent Children
8 September 2022
Play Included is a social enterprise on a mission to create effective play-based development programmes for children – empowering professionals, enabling parents and families and building community. In this presentation, Dr Gina Gomez de la Cuesta introduces the Brick-by-Brick® programme, which provides opportunities for neurodivergent children to develop their social and emotional skills through collaborative […]
Children’s Perspectives and Experiences of Play in Hospital
8 September 2022
In this talk, PEDAL PhD student Kelsey Graber presents their doctoral research – which seeks to investigate children’s own perspectives and experiences of play in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. This presentation was recorded on 8th September 2022 as part of the PEDAL Play Conference, an event which brought together play researchers interested in play […]
Play as Resilience, Play as Mastery: Supporting Practitioners and Families Across the UK
8 September 2022
Play is a child’s normal. Play is both a powerful means of communication, and how we understand the world that we live in. Starlight Children’s Foundation is committed to protecting the right of all children to have opportunities to play, particularly children who are seriously ill and/or engaged with the UK healthcare system on a […]
How to communicate with children, according to Health Play Specialists in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study
2 August 2022
Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola