EasyPeasy LEGO

5 July 2019

We’re all excited to hear about our project partner EasyPeasy’s new collaboration with LEGO this week! They also hosted the Education Minister for the launch of a new government early years campaign.

Here’s what our impact manager, Caitlin has been reading about it:

EasyPeasy has officially launched their partnership with LEGO, and hosted Damian Hinds at Dunraven Primary School in South London as part of the launch of the DfE’s new early years and home learning campaign, Hungry Little Minds.

EasyPeasy and LEGO

You can read EasyPeasy’s blog on their new partnership here, but I’ve rounded up some of the highlights:

  • The partnership will focus on innovations to support the home learning environment for families with children aged 2-5
  • The partnership is initially being piloted with 500 families in areas of lower than average social mobility in London, Southampton, Luton, Bedford and Hastings
  • LEGO and EasyPeasy will work together to create a suite of videos inspiring families to find new ways of learning through play at home, both with LEGO bricks and with other suitable common household alternatives
  • These videos, like all games on EasyPeay, are designed to help develop skills that are crucial in early years such as language and communication, social and emotional and cognitive skills such as cognitive self-regulation
  • In addition, the partnership will include a further roll-out of the LEGO learning games to 10,000 families who will have access to EasyPeasy through projects funded by the Department for Education and others
Lego and EasyPeasy

This is huge for EasyPeasy and the status of the home learning environment – we look forward to following the partnership’s progress as more families in the UK are provided the opportunities and tools to help their young children learn through play.

Hungry Little Minds

Secondly, the Department for Education launched its new home learning environment campaign this week, called Hungry Little Minds. The campaign, which launched on Tuesday and is aimed at improving the early literacy and language skills in the years before they start school, will do three things:

  • give parents access to video tips, advice and suggested games to help with early learning – EasyPeasy and LEGO’s work was specifically mentioned in this part of the DfE’s announcement
  • announce up to 1,800 new school-based nursery places, to be created in disadvantaged areas so more children can access high-quality early education, backed by a £22 million investment; and
  • set out the criteria for high quality educational apps that parents can use with their children, including promoting interactive learning and play.

We are proud to back projects aimed at helping parents prevent developmental gaps from forming in the years before their children enter school through playful learning and early identification of speech, language and communication needs, including The Communications Trust, Voice Bradford’s 50 Things To Do Before You’re Five program, and of course, EasyPeasy.

We’re so pleased to see home learning in the early years not only take its rightful place on the policy stage, but also be backed by significant investment from the DfE. We look forward to following the progress of the campaign, and its impact on families looking to play and learn at home with their children.