New NSPCC resources help refugee mums Look, Say, Sing, Play with their children

Look, Say, Sing, Play was created to help new parents interact and engage with their children to help with their development in early years. It uses simple activities which have been designed to encourage development and bonding between parents and their children.

The children’s charity worked with Bristol-based charity Project MAMA, which supports migrated people in Bristol during pregnancy, birth and early motherhood, to adapt the resources so that they can be used by refugee and displaced families who also experience being housed in temporary accommodation, increased isolation and English language barriers.

Flashcards showing the Look, Say, Sing, Play activities have been created using illustrations to explain the activities which are also described in simple terms. The illustrations were created by Rosanna Morris, who works regularly with Project MAMA. She spent time speaking to and working with refugee mums to create the illustrations which represent four different refugee women.

Project MAMA said that the new Look, Say, Sing, Play resources had been welcomed by the parents they work with.

Clare Smith, CEO of Project MAMA, said: “A lot of our work is around perinatal education and emotional support for Mamas and babes and Look, Say, Sing, Play helps Mamas to connect with their babes. It helps us to support Mamas how they can connect with their babes, have that time and interact with them. This is a really nice and easy way for us to do that.

“The reaction has been generally positive. What has been really reassuring is that a lot of the Mamas have said that they are doing these things already with their babes. What they didn’t realise was the benefit for their babes and how it allows them to connect with them.

“What it has allowed us to do is say to the Mamas ‘you are already a great mum and you are doing really well’, it’s that encouragement which is so important.”

Clare explained that Project MAMA does not give out resources often as they are usually written in English which can be complicated and translations can sometimes be poor.

She said: “This is a really positive way for Mamas to be given something which is useful. Because of the adaptations which have been made there are fewer barriers for them to be able to use the resources.”

Clare said that around 70% of the families the charity supports do not speak English so it can sometimes be difficult to access the mainstream resources given out.

She added: “Having a physical resource like this that we can look at together is really great. Even if they can’t read the text, they can use the pictures and remember from those what we have talked about.”

Maherush Khan, NSPCC Local Campaigns Officer, said: “We were really pleased to be able to work with Project MAMA on adapting our Look, Say, Sing, Play resources so that they can be used by refugee and displaced mothers with their children.

“We want to make sure that NSPCC resources can be used by as many people as possible and being able to adapt them with the help of Project MAMA staff and the mothers themselves has been really helpful.”

The Look, Say, Sing, Play resources have been made available to other groups supporting refugee and displaced families through the NSPCC Learning website along with a webinar for professionals wanting to use the resources.