Our partnership with Fisher-Price™ Play Lab

We’re excited to announce a one-year charitable partnership with Fisher-Price™ Play Lab. Together, we will create a programme of parent and child-focused activities and resources to help alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on 0 to 5-year-olds’ early years learning and development.

To launch this partnership, Fisher-Price™ Play Lab and Family Action commissioned research that surveyed 1000 UK parents of under-5s. We found that two years on since the start of the pandemic, a third of parents are worried their children have been held back. We also learnt:

• 30 percent are concerned about their child’s speech due to the pandemic
• 35 percent worry about the impact on their child’s emotional intelligence
• 70 percent don’t completely understand what should be expected of their youngster as they’ve had less interaction with other parents and families
• 60% of parents spent more time at home because of the pandemic, with 30% feeling separation anxiety as a result 
• 31% of children also experience anxiety when saying goodbye to their parent or carer, with 74% of parents believing this has been made worse by the pandemic

It also emerged that the ability to play with others, understand their own emotions, and literacy skills were other concerns parents had about their child’s development.

Learning through play

In response to parents’ concerns, we are joining forces with Fisher-Price™ Play Lab to explore how play can support learning, parent and carer wellbeing and, strengthen family bonds. Together, we are developing a range of play-led activities and resources, to support the development of young children’s social, language, numeracy and motor skills.

Sign up for upcoming play-led support and resources for your family.