Let’s Play

Helping young children build the skills they need to grow, learn and thrive.

Every child develops at their own pace. Learning to express emotions, manage behavior, build relationships and navigate new experiences is an important part of early childhood development.

Through Let’s Play, Kids Interactive Developmental Services (K.I.D.S.) helps young children and their families strengthen social-emotional skills through individualized parent support, play-based learning and collaboration between home and child care.

Supported by Cabarrus Partnership for Children through Smart Start funding, Let’s Play helps parents and child care providers work together to support each child’s development.

Developed in 2023, Let’s Play is a social-emotional intervention program designed to bridge the gap between a child’s home and child care environments.

The program was created in response to requests from child care centers across Cabarrus County seeking support for children’s social-emotional development.

K.I.D.S. Pediatric Developmental Specialists work directly with parents in their homes to provide individualized parent training. Together, they develop an Individualized Parenting Plan with goals and strategies to support the child’s development.

The team also collaborates with the child’s child care center, sharing the plan and strategies that can be used in the classroom.

When parents and educators work toward the same goals and use consistent approaches across home and child care, children receive more coordinated support for their development.

Individualized support for each child and family

Let’s Play focuses on helping parents and child care providers understand a child’s needs and identify strategies that work for their individual circumstances.

The program includes:

• Parent training: Pediatric Developmental Specialists work with parents in their homes to explore strategies for supporting their child’s social-emotional growth.

• Individualized Parenting Plans: Parents and specialists establish goals and identify approaches to help the child progress developmentally.

• Child care collaboration: K.I.D.S. works with child care providers to share goals and strategies that can also be used in the classroom.

• Practical parenting strategies: Parents learn how to recognize and build on the positive strategies they may already be using with their children.

• Consistent support: Parents and educators work together to reinforce skills and approaches across the child’s daily environments.

The goal is to help children strengthen their developmental skills while empowering the adults who care for them.

Play is an important part of how young children learn about themselves and the world around them.

Through play, children have opportunities to practice problem-solving, explore emotions, communicate with others and develop the skills they need to navigate everyday experiences.

Play supports several areas of development:

• Social-emotional development: Children practice recognizing emotions, expressing feelings, interacting with others and developing self-control.
  
  
• Language development: Books, games and interactive activities encourage children to communicate, practice language skills and expand their vocabulary.
  
  
• Executive function skills: Play provides opportunities to develop working memory, flexible thinking and self-control.
  
  
• Physical development: Movement and hands-on activities help children practice coordination, balance, muscle control and dexterity.

Let’s Play is available to eligible families who meet the following requirements:

• Age: Birth through age 5
• Residence: Cabarrus County only

Let’s Play – Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (Let’s Play – SEIYC) provides, in a child’s home or child care setting, an assessment, creates goals, and identifies needs for possible services.

This program can offer:

• Triple P Positive Parenting Program: A parenting and family support system designed to help children to realize their potential.
• Pyramid Model: A framework of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s healthy social and emotional development.
• Play Therapy: A trained therapist uses playtime to observe and gain insights into a child’s problems, allowing them to help the child explore emotions and deal with unresolved trauma. Through play, children can learn new coping mechanisms and how to redirect inappropriate behaviors.

For more information, contact Pamela Ragan with K.I.D.S. at 704-224-3687

The Cabarrus County Partnership for Children funds the Let’s Play – Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children program.