brain development

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is delighted to share the new promotional brochure for Little Sparks, Big Starts – Training on Early Brain Development for Health Visitors.

Little Sparks, Big Starts – Health Visiting, is an exciting two-part programme designed to support health visiting practitioners in translating key messages about baby brain development into meaningful conversations with parents and carers. It complements, rather than replaces, existing practice.

The programme comprises:

A flexible, free-to-access e-learning package for all health visiting practitioners.
An accompanying web-based Parent App to support practitioners’ conversations with families.

Little Sparks, Big Starts – Health Visiting was developed with support from Kindred Squared and aims to raise awareness and understanding of early brain development, supporting parents, health visiting teams, educators and communities to improve outcomes for children aged 0–5 years.

Positive early feedback

Initial feedback from health visiting practitioners has been extremely encouraging. Users describe the e-learning as engaging, interactive and practical, with many appreciating that it can be completed in under an hour, making it easy to fit around busy workloads.

Practitioners report increased confidence in having meaningful conversations with parents and carers about baby brain development. They also value the accompanying web-based Parent App as a practical resource that reinforces key messages during and after contacts with families.

Parents and carers have responded positively to the programme’s strengths-based approach, recognising that it celebrates the everyday interactions they are already having with their babies while offering simple, evidence-informed ideas to further support early brain development.

Vicky Gilroy, iHV Director of Innovation and Research, said:

“It has been a privilege to collaborate with Kindred Squared in the co-design of the Little Sparks, Big Starts programme. The e-learning programme is engaging, interactive and provides an important overview of the value of having meaningful conversations with parents and carers about baby brain development. The accompanying resource further supports these interactions by helping practitioners promote children’s development through everyday experiences and responsive interactions with parents and carers.”

Felicity Gillespie, CEO of Kindred Squared, said:

“Health visitors play a vital role in helping new parents understand their baby’s development and the difference that everyday interactions can make. We are delighted to work with the Institute of Health Visiting on this essential programme, equipping practitioners with practical tools to support these important conversations.”

Little Sparks, Big Starts has been welcomed as a valuable addition to health visiting practice, helping practitioners translate the science of early brain development into accessible, everyday conversations with families.

The programme highlights the critical importance of early childhood experiences in shaping brain development, emotional wellbeing and future learning. It reassures parents that the everyday moments they already share with their babies make a real difference, while providing practical ideas and information to build on these interactions.

As more practitioners complete the programme and begin using the Parent Web App with families, iHV and Kindred Squared look forward to gathering further feedback to continue refining and developing the resources.

Find out more

If you haven’t already explored the programme, now is the perfect opportunity. The e-learning takes less than an hour to complete and has been designed with the demands of health visitors’ busy schedules in mind.

How to access Little Sparks, Big Starts e-learning programme

For iHV members:
Access to the whole Little Sparks, Big Starts – Health Visiting programme is free, with instant access for all iHV members via iHV LEARN.
For non-members:
To register for free access to the programme and the accompanying Parent App, please complete your details here.

To explore all strands of the Little Sparks, Big Starts programme, visit: https://littlesparks.org.uk/

We are delighted by the positive response so far and would love to hear your feedback as you use the resources and share them with parents and carers.

Download Little Sparks, Big Starts promotional brochure

To cite this short brochure, please use the link to the pdf here: https://bit.ly/4fuCnww

iHV is proud to be working with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood as an early adopter of their new resources — six beautifully animated films that bring to life the science of early brain development.

These short films explain how everyday interactions between babies, young children and caring adults can support healthy social and emotional development. They unpack the brain science and explain key concepts behind the way nurturing interactions support the social and emotional development of babies and young children. They explain the science behind the everyday moments of connection that can have a long-term positive impact on a child’s life.

Building on the Shaping Us Framework, the animations and associated resources aim to help practitioners understand more about WHAT supports social and emotional development, and HOW they could promote better outcomes for babies and young children.

The films are designed to be used by people who work with babies, children and families, so that they are better equipped to have meaningful and consistent conversations with parents and carers about social and emotional development. The films are accompanied by practitioner guidance and science briefings.

Hilda Beauchamp, iHV Perinatal & Infant Mental Health Lead, said:

“The Institute of Health Visiting is planning to include the animations as part of our SEEN project, funded and supported by Kindred². This is a project that aims to further equip health visiting teams in promoting babies’ brain development in their conversations with parents and carers. The iHV is engaged in robust co-development with parents and health visiting teams to shape a new e-learning programme and additional resources. This will ensure health visiting teams are confident and competent to apply their knowledge in their everyday work alongside families.”

Working together with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, we can promote nurturing relationships and give every child the best start in life.

About The Centre for Early Childhood Explainer Series of films

The short animated films were developed because they are creative, accessible and engaging and can be used in a range of different ways with varied audiences – from showing the films to a parent 1:1, to embedding them in professional lectures or online training, to using them to aid discussions in team meetings.

The films were co-produced – the topics of the films were decided after iterative discussions with expert advisors and professional leaders. The Centre for Early Childhood then worked with a group of leading early childhood practitioners from around the UK to develop the scripts, which were reviewed by academic experts. The scripts were sent to talented illustrators and animators from around the world, who worked their creative magic.

There are six films in the Explainer Series, which show how everyday actions support the development of children in their earliest years. The films are also available in Welsh and with British Sign Language.

Each animation explores a different concept from the Shaping Us Framework:

How we grow an emotionally healthy brain – This film explains describes the rapid development that happens in early childhood
Noticing and navigating feelings – This film unpacks a concept called attunement.
Managing big feelings together – This film explains a concept called co-regulation.
Back and forth interactions – This film unpacks a concept called contingent responsiveness (also known as serve and return).
Supporting their learning – This film explains a concept called scaffolding.
Creating space for connection – This film explains a concept called pacing.

Practitioner guidance – Using the Centre for Early Childhood’s Explainers to support families is also available here.