52 Things to do before you’re 5 is a new, exciting project aimed at families with children under five years old. The project goes live on the 1 January 2023 and will support Derby city parents, who are the first people to give their children an understanding of the world around them. Many of the activities are free and use local resources to have fun and encourage children’s learning and development.
52 Things to do before you’re 5 gives families a free start up pack, which includes a booklet of activities and a poster where families can track their progress. Each page in the booklet suggests a free or very low cost activity for the week, to do either indoors or outdoors. The activities build on children’s personal, social and emotional development, encouraging speech and communication, physical abilities, creative skills, knowledge and understanding of the world, and the foundations for early literacy and maths. Each activity can be revisited, and the booklet suggests how to extend children’s language and learning as they grow in confidence. Find out more and order your start up pack now.
52 Things to do before you’re 5 has been created by Derby’s City Council’s Families Information Service in partnership with Derby’s Children’s Centres. It aims to support parents through everyday activities to increase children’s home learning, school readiness and narrow the attainment gap. The BBC has recently reported that the number of five and six-year-olds who need speech and language support at school has risen by 10% in England over the past year. A total of 42,341 children required extra support in 2021/22, up from 38,560 in 2020/21.
Early support with children’s language development provided by this project is linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, supporting Derby’s young children’s speech and language whilst they enjoy fun activities.
Councillor Evonne Williams, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Skills said:
Children grow at an incredible rate in their first five years and want to know everything about the world around them. This is a fantastic free resource for families which will support parents with their child’s development but most importantly of all, provide hours of fun.