Promoting Playfulness

Health inequalities, social isolation, and family adversity impact a child's development. Play is the context for child development in all areas. A parent's ability to support children at play while being playful contributes to their psychological adjustment. The proposed tier 1, strengths-based educational program for parents of children aged 2 to 5 years with and without disabilities combines elements of a play-based approach and tips on effective parenting to support children's development by equipping parents with knowledge and empowering them to become change agents in their children's lives.

Parents will be recruited through a convenience sampling method to either an intervention group delivered online or a control waitlist group. Parents will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires online to assess the proposed programs effectiveness. Data analysis will explore between and within group differences in parental sense of competency, parental stress, child's behavior, and ability to support child's play. Qualitative data will be collected through online open-ended questions and sessions' transcript which will be analyzed to identify benefits. The project will produce tangible outcomes that will contribute to fostering the resilience of families with young children.