markettiers worked with Save the Children to provide broadcast support for their call on the government to make play-time ‘brain-time’
markettiers worked with Save the Children for the second year running in support of their Read On. Get On. campaign. Following the successful launch of the literacy coalition last year we were tasked with promoting their call on the government and parents to make play-time ‘brain-time’, under the guidance of a qualified early years teacher. Research has shown that failure to properly stimulate toddlers’ brains during nursery years could be setting them back decades, with the charity warning that one in five children have already fallen behind in their learning by their first day of school.
We conducted consumer research amongst parents to uncover how much they understood about early language development, with two thirds citing school as the most important learning period. These statistics provided the basis of discussion around the newly released report, ‘Lighting Up Young Brains’, a scientific briefing from Save the Children and the Institute of Child Health at University College London in which neuroscientists and child psychologists identify the pre-school years as a crucial opportunity for brain development.
Sky News Radio and BBC 5 Live Morning Reports interviewed a Save the Children spokesperson the afternoon prior to the launch, which meant content was widely available from early in the morning on the campaign launch date with bulletins running throughout the day.
Dr Sam Wass, psychologist from ‘The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds’, was in our studios on the morning of the launch conducting interviews with key radio broadcasters including LBC, talkRADIO, BBC World Service, Global Yorkshire, BBC London and a further 18 BBC regional stations.