Words Grow Minds Baby and Toddler Development Campaign Coming to Port Pirie
Book swaps boxes and early literacy sessions for parents will support the development of babies and toddlers in Port Pirie through funding from Words Grow Minds.
The Words Grow Minds campaign is a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care, providing information to parents about how best to support their child’s development in the crucial first three years of life. Based on the motto of “talk, play, read and sing with your baby”, the statewide campaign is an Australian-first, putting the neuroscience of early childhood brain
development into accessible language for parents and the broader community.
In addition to the paid information campaign across television, radio, newspapers, billboards and social media, Words Grow Minds is awarding $60,000 in grants to 17 councils and children’s service providers to bring the message to life in local communities.
Port Pirie Council will receive $4000 to set up book swap boxes at key locations and hold early literacy information sessions for parents. The council is also planning family fun events to promote the importance of the ‘talk, play, read and sing’ message and how these interactions strengthen family bonds.
Background:
The colourful characters “Bobble and Bib” are leading the multimedia advertising campaign with simple, consistent messaging around the life-changing benefits of talking, playing, reading, and singing to babies and toddlers.
The campaign has also delivered 21,000 resource packs filled with books and other play, talk and sing activities to early years services.
Words Grow Minds has been created by the Early Years Taskforce and supported by the State Government to ultimately reverse a worrying trend facing South Australian young children.
Data from the Australian Early Development Census shows nearly one in four South Australian children are starting school developmentally vulnerable on one or more developmental domains. Results also show that South Australian children in their first year of school are proportionally more vulnerable in each domain, when compared to the national average.
Words Grow Minds is led by Kate Ellis, the CEO of Raising Literacy Australia and Chair of the Early Years Taskforce, and a former federal minister for early childhood.
Quotes from Kate Ellis, CEO, Raising Literacy Australia:
“We cannot ignore the fact that South Australian children’s development is behind the national average before they even start school. We know there is still a belief in the community that you only really need to start reading with your child at school age.
But what the latest research shows us is that 85 percent of a child’s brain development happens by the time they are three, and every positive interaction in those early years literally grows their brains. Not every parent knows how to play or talk with their baby in a way that nurtures their child’s development, especially if that wasn’t a factor in their own childhood.
This doesn’t come naturally to every parent and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a learned skill just like everything else in parenting and we’re here to offer that support. As soon parents find out how these positive interactions grow their baby’s brain, we find they feel incredibly empowered.”
Quotes from Charmaine Burton, Library Services Coordinator, Port Pirie Regional Council:
“It is so important that parents have positive regular interactions with their children which include singing, reading, rhyming, playing, dancing and having fun. All these bonding interactions are crucial for children’s brain development, their vocabulary, and their social and emotional wellbeing.
Our aim is to ensure children in the Port Pirie community are ready for learning at school and that no child gets left behind. We will be running programs that encourage parents to develop the routine of reading to their little ones every night before bedtime. The book swap boxes are a good place to start and, of course, there are many books available to borrow from our local library."
Words Grow Minds is also offering a free professional development course to support and upskill anyone who works with very young children and families.
Learn more wordsgrowminds.org.au
