Event Description

This event will involve hands-on activities for NI families on core areas of child development (language, cognition, social development, physical development). Jointly led by child development researchers from Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast, the event will feature a combination of researcher-led and self-directed activities for parents and children. These include demos of developmental research methods, activities based on developmental milestones, and a discussion circle for parents on support systems throughout NI.

To reach families throughout NI, this event will be offered both in Belfast and in Derry/Londonderry, and is free to attend. The activities are suitable for the whole family, including parents, primary school and secondary school children.

The two-hour programme includes a combination of researcher-led and self-directed activities for parents and children. For example, self-directed activities include a colouring game designed for studying children’s language development, an interactive app on self-regulation and an app with animations to support the development of physical competence. While children enjoy participating in the colouring game as a hands-on activity involving a series of pictures to colour in, the activity provides a concrete example to parents of developmental research, along with an explanation of how children’s colouring choices can reveal their interpretations of complex sentences.

The activities will be offered throughout the two hour programme, and families are welcome to join at any time during the event.