Princess Kate has championed a parenting technique known as “pacing” in a new project aimed at revolutionising early childhood development.
Earlier this week, the Princess of Wales Royal announced the project created with the Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.
Kate was “closely involved” in the development of a series of animated short films which discuss how nurturing techniques can positively influence the social and emotional development of babies and young children.
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The Princess helped developed the videos in meetings with early years practitioners and two of the illustrators during a creative workshop in June.
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Princess Kate has championed an empathetic parenting technique in a new project
Her project centres on the on the concept of “pacing,” which emphasises an empathetic approach to interactions with children.
The method advises parents to consider the speed at which they interact with children and remain mindful of their early development.
In the first film, titled Creating Space for Connection, parents are suggested to “adjust our tempo and slow down to help them to process information and respond”.
“Pacing creates space and time for meaningful connection, giving the child greater opportunity to engage positively in an interaction or activity,” it informed.
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Kate produced a series of short films with the Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
The film explains that adults are often used to doing almost everything, from simple tasks to explaining more complex ideas, at an adult pace based on years of experience.
It warns that applying that same approach to children can be disorientating.
“As a result, the child has even less time to compute all this new information and becomes pretty much overwhelmed,” the short’s narrator explained.
They detail: “This might look like a child freezing, crying, or appearing to ignore you, or a combination of all three.”
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The Princess of Wales highlighted the ‘pacing’ approach to parenting
“By asking a question and pausing to wait for a child to respond, we’re allowing them to process things at their own pace,” parents were informed.
“This gives their brain time to calmly work out what is happening and reply.
“Or sometimes it’s as simple as lingering on a page when reading together, noticing what the child is interested in and allowing them time to fully absorb,” the narrator explained.
Creating Space for Connection film was illustrated by Owen Gildersleeve, animated by Plastic Horse and produced by Grand Matter.
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Kate hailed the project as a ‘golden opportunity’ to improve early childhood development in Britain
Speaking about the project as a whole, the Princess of Wales said: “Early childhood has been recognised as the golden opportunity to build strong foundations for future life health and happiness.
“The new animated films from The Centre of Early Childhood showcase how adults can create nurturing, loving interactions with children, helping to foster social and emotional development during their earliest years.
“These core social and emotional skills are essential in forming healthy relationships and are fundamental building blocks that can carry us through life.
“That is why we want to raise the awareness of, and celebrate, the extraordinary value of everyday moments of connection which matter more than ever in a rapidly changing world,
“Early childhood offers a sacred opportunity to transform our societies for the better and by nurturing these skills in our babies and children, we will be raising a younger generation better equipped to face the future,” she concluded.