Barriers and facilitators to engaging in parent-child activities with 1-to-3-year-olds: a mixed methods evaluation of a co-produced impact project

Parent-child activities provide children with opportunities to develop socio-emotional and cognitive skills. This project aimed to identify and directly address barriers to engagement in parent-child activities, amongst UK families from less-advantaged backgrounds. Through online workshops, 118 parents and 127 practitioners reported barriers to engaging in different activities. Content analysis indicated the most commonly-reported barriers were: practicalities (time, mess, damage); ideas, knowledge and expectations of play; and access to resources. Three activity packs to address these barriers were distributed to >1000 families. Interviews with 10 practitioners who distributed the packs, and feedback from 23 parents, indicated that providing simple, clearly-explained, play-based activity suggestions, along with the resources needed for the activities, positively impacted parents’ perceptions about play, built parental confidence in supporting their child’s learning and development, supported parent-child interaction, stimulated ideas, and overcame some practical barriers. Practitioners played an important mediating role by providing explanations, reassurance and encouragement to families.