SPARC and Brainwave Trust produce cuddlewrap
SPARC has recently formed a partnership with the Brainwave Trust to produce a new resource for parents and young children called the cuddlewrap.
The cuddlewrap is a high quality, versatile blanket that has brain development tips printed on it in colourful fonts and in three languages to educate parents and caregivers of the importance of engaging with their child from an early age.
“By having an organisation such as the Brainwave Trust supporting our resources within the sector, the Active Movement message and philosophy gain enormous credibility with our target audience, key influencers of nought to five year-olds,” said Shelley Gilliver, SPARC active youth advisor.
“The Brainwave Trust has a great reputation within the education, early childhood and health sector throughout New Zealand,” said Gilliver. “They’ve been extremely supportive of SPARC’s Active Movement initiative since reviewing the 14 printed activity brochures in 2005.”
The Brainwave Trust promotes the message that, “the first three years of life last forever,” reinforcing SPARC’s Active Movement philosophy that movement is important for the healthy development of a child's brain and that young children learn from movement and being physically active.
“By engaging with and educating each other about the importance of the first three years, we give all New Zealand children the opportunity to reach their potential,” said Gilliver.
SPARC has reciprocated the Brainwave Trust endorsement of the Active Movement resources by lending its endorsement to the cuddlewrap that, until recently, was endorsed by the Ministry of Social Developments’ S.K.I.P.(Strategies for Kids, Information for Parents) initiative.
The 100 per-cent cotton wrap will be distributed to 30,000 new parents along with printed Active Movement and Brainwave Trust informational resources via maternity units within hospitals nationwide, and can be utilised for either wrapping a baby, as a blanket, or used as a decorative wall hanging.
SPARC’s website details, its 0800 Active telephone number and the Active Movement logo will appear on the wrap under the four educational messages written in English and interpreted into Te Reo Maori, Samoan, and Chinese.
By collaborating with the Brainwave Trust and endorsing the cuddlewrap resource, SPARC is promoting the Active Movement message using another media aside from the highly successful printed resources. The collaboration also strengthens current partnerships with affiliated agencies such as Ministry of Social Development, Plunket, and Barnardos.
The cuddlewrap will be distributed to new parents from August 2007. It will also be promoted on the Nought to 5ive television series featuring Active Movement advisor and co-author of Moving to Learn, Gill Connell, from September this year.
Updated | 08 Oct 2007.
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