Parenting and play

Participatory arts have proved to be a very useful tool in working with parents and young children. The arts are a natural partner to learning through play for children and they also give permission for parents to play and therefore find different ways to express themselves. We have also built up a small team of development workers and arts workers who have the expertise and sensitivity to work in this field and understand the issues for this work. The team have worked in partnership with Early Years service providers to help:

• Consult with hard to reach groups about early years services and also about sensitive issues such as Post Natal Depression (As Part of the Arts Into Health Partnership work)
• Involve parents and children in the development of permanent pieces of pubic art for four different Sure Start buildings and environments
• The exploration and development of activities to promote “readiness for school” for parents and under four’s piloted with Nursery classes in three schools.
• Palfrey Sure Start has developed an ongoing partnership with the Community Arts Team that has seen the development of public art for a swimming pool; a birthing stories book and the use of creative methods in evaluation.