Empowering Parents for Early Childhood Development
Dr. Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez’s innovative activity packs aim to enhance cognitive development and empower parents, now expanding to Argentina to support vulnerable children.
A study led by Dr Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, Reader in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University and member of the Babylab, underscores the critical role parents play in fostering their children's cognitive development through quality time. In collaboration with Dr Alexandra Hendry from the University of Oxford, Dr. Gonzalez-Gomez co-created three innovative activity packs, developed with input from families and early years practitioners. These packs are designed to support early learning, with a particular focus on language acquisition and executive function development.
The activity packs are freely available in multiple languages via the Babylab web pages, offering parents practical, evidence-based tools to stimulate their children's growth. So far, 1,000 packs have been distributed across the UK, receiving highly positive feedback for their accessibility and effectiveness.
Building on this success, the project is now entering its next phase in Argentina, a country facing extreme economic hardship. With inflation exceeding 100% annually and over 50% of the population living below the poverty line, vulnerable children are often deprived of critical developmental support. In partnership with Hospital Aleman in Buenos Aires and the Inter-American Development Bank, the research team has distributed activity packs to 125 families with children identified as at risk for developmental delays.
Given Argentina's strained resources, many of these children lack access to intervention programs. This initiative aims to fill that gap, providing much-needed resources while also measuring the impact of the activity packs on children's cognitive development, as well as shifts in parental perceptions and behaviours.
Dr Gonzalez-Gomez is set to travel to Argentina this week, where she will engage with parents and early years practitioners to gather insights on the impact of the activity packs. This trial represents a pivotal moment in evaluating the effectiveness of the packs across diverse cultural contexts, with the long-term goal of adapting and expanding the program to support early childhood development in other countries.
Speaking about her hopes for the project, Nayeli said: “I am deeply encouraged by the initial responses we've received from families in the UK, and I’m eager to see how these resources can make an even greater difference in Argentina, where the need for early developmental support is so urgent. Our goal is not only to offer practical tools for parents but to empower them with the knowledge and confidence to foster their children's growth, even in the most challenging circumstances. We hope this initiative can serve as a model for global efforts to support early childhood development in vulnerable communities.”