Competition launched to create a supportive home environment for growth and child development

Abu Dhabi, March 15, 2020: In celebration of Emirati Children’s Day 2020 (15 March 2020), the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) has launched a competition to foster parent roles in educating and engaging with their child to encourage development of mental, cognitive and behavioral skills. 

In addition to publishing a series of educational tips about early childhood development on ECA’s social media accounts, the initiative features several ideas, tools and activities that enable parents to engage effectively with their children and create a supportive home environment for the child’s growth and development.

As part of its activities, ECA has announced a community contest targeting parents of different nationalities in the UAE. Parents are encouraged to share creative tools and activities on how they are spending time engaging with, and encouraging the development of, children under eight years of age at home. The contest aims to enable families to share knowledge and best practices with their peers.

The ECA has stressed the importance of parents spending time applying early childhood development practices and has outlined five tips, which should be followed by parents for engaging with their children whilst they are at home. 

The first tip is to set a week-day home routine by making a schedule for children according to their age, with regular timings for meals, baths, sleep, play, exercise and other activities. 

Meanwhile, the second tip is to ensure your children get enough physical activity for their age by practicing sports, playing or walking.

The third tip is to ensure the majority of family time at home is spent playing with children, creating puzzles, playing board games, or any other activities that can be done as a family. 

The fourth tip is to encourage children to read – during a child’s first years, it is important to read at least two books with pictorials each day.

Furthermore, ECA has urged parents to teach children to support with chores are home by involving them in age-appropriate activities such as making the bed, tidying up, setting the table, baking and watering plants in a safe environment.

The ECA has invited parents and caregivers to interact with the contest by following ECA’s accounts on Twitter and Instagram @AbuDhabi_ECA and sending a picture or video describing their successful experiences before March 22 with a comment using the following hashtags (# HomeFun4Kids – #إثراء_البيئة_المنزلية_للطفل). Participants will have the opportunity to receive an Early Childhood Champion Certificate and win a valuable prize. In addition, the most innovative experience will be given the name of the child who applied it, as the ECA will promote the three most prominent experiences and encourage parents to apply them.