Watch Me Play!
Watch Me Play!: an early intervention approach that is based on play
Watch Me Play! can help parents or carers to get to know their baby or child and enjoy being together.
Watch Me Play! involves the parent or caregiver sitting down to play with their child in a way that follows the child’s lead: allowing the child to choose the toys and what to do with them, while the adult sits and observes the child and comments on what the child is doing.
Parents are supported by a Watch Me Play! practitioner on how to do this - for some parents it’s a slightly different way to play with their child compared to their usual play.
Watch Me Play! may help children with their play and communication skills and may also help with the relationship between a parent and a child. Watch Me Play! was developed initially for foster parents and carers but it could be helpful to any parent of any child.
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We have two studies about Watch Me Play!
Families of very young children (0 to 6 years) with a developmental delay (i.e., global developmental delay, Down syndrome, autism or suspected autism and others) are supported to do Watch Me Play! with their young child.
Our research is exploring whether supporting families to do Watch Me Play! over the internet or the telephone (remotely) is possible and helpful to families. We are also investigating whether families like Watch Me Play! and if they find it helpful with their children.
About 15 families have received support with Watch Me Play! so far. We recruited families working together with the charity Cerebra. We will post findings from the study here in the summer of 2023.
Parents of young children with a developmental delay who tried Watch Me Play! said:
“I think the 5 weeks went brilliantly. I think he developed massively. We got much more out of it than the speech therapy course that we were doing at the same time. His speech came along, he engaged a bit more, he concentrated a bit more. I saw his language use develop, and his use of words and his trying to say words come along a lot more.”
“He wants to do Watch Me Play!. He says Watch Me Play!, Watch Me Play!. He tries to come and do Watch Me Play and play together, which he wasn’t doing before.”
We investigate if Watch Me Play! can be offered to families of 0 to 8 year-old children who have been referred to early years or family services and what families and services think about Watch Me Play!. Watch Me Play! is offered mostly remotely. Some support is face-to-face but most sessions take place on the internet.
In the next few months, we aim to recruit approximately 40 families referred to early years and family services across the UK. The study is funded by What Works for Children's Social Care.
We are collaborating with Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust as well as Cardiff University. Visit the Tavistock and Portman NHS link here. All the manuals are freely available.