Early years packs developed at Oxford Brookes to be rolled out in Argentina

Innovative resource packs developed at Oxford Brookes University for families with babies and toddlers are to be distributed in Argentina.

The Hospital Aleman in Buenos Aires and the Inter-American Development Bank are working with Oxford Brookes University to roll out the resource packs.

The packs aim to help parents use play as a way of aiding the cognitive development of babies and children. Each activity pack contains a book, craft materials and suggestions for ways to use them. Since the launch of the first packs in English in 2022, they have been translated into eight different languages, including, most recently, Spanish. 

Dr Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, Reader in Psychology at Oxford Brookes, said: “We are collaborating with the hospital and the bank to conduct two knowledge exchange workshops for parents and early years practitioners, as well as an event for the general public.

“We also aim to distribute our three activity packs among 100 families with children identified by hospital screenings as being at risk of developmental delays.”

Dr Gonzalez-Gomez and Alexandra Hendry from the University of Oxford originally developed the activity packs in collaboration with charities and practitioners. 

The Little Explorer Pack, the Colourful Walk and Talk Pack and the Not Too Messy Animal Pack were initially rolled out in Oxfordshire following a research project into the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns on the cognitive development of babies and toddlers.

The packs were so successful when they were distributed in Oxfordshire that Dr Gonzalez-Gomez and her team are exploring how they can be used more widely, in the UK and beyond. The project has now secured £12,690 from Oxford Brookes’ Small Knowledge Exchange Awards to trial the resource packs in Argentina.

Dr Gonzalez-Gomez added: “Our project seeks to work with organisations in Argentina to provide resources and support directly to those in greatest need. Through this initiative, we aim to evaluate and quantify the impact of these activity packs on children's cognitive development.”

The packs are available on the Babylab website.