This media release was issued by Playgroup Australia.
National Playgroup Week, the annual event run by Playgroup Australia, will take place across the country from 20 March to 27 March. The event coincides with the launch of research from the The Kids Research Institute Australia showing that children who attend playgroup are half as likely to have developmental vulnerabilities when they start primary school.
Over 200,000 children in 80% of postcodes attend playgroup making it Australia's second largest volunteer movement. National Playgroup Week celebrates the importance of the playgroup movement and the role it plays in early childhood learning and intervention with numerous events across the country.
The Kids Research Institute Australia research, It takes a village to raise a child: the influence and impact of playgroups across Australia, explores the facilitators and barriers to playgroup attendance and evaluate the impact of playgroup on early child development.
The Kids Research Institute Australia lead researcher Dr Tess Gregory said the results of the research show the importance of early child development programs like playgroups.
"Playgroups are a low-cost, community resource that are underutilised in Australia but have a positive impact on the wellbeing of families and the development of children," Dr Gregory said.
The research found that one in three children in Australia attend playgroups before they start school and that even in the most disadvantaged communities one in four children attend playgroups prior to school.
Anne-Marie Mioche, CEO of Playgroup Australia said: "The research proves that playgroups can help improve on all the AEDC developmental domains, which gives children a head start in school.
"Playgroups really have a wide reach; they impact about 20% of disadvantaged children and close to 40% of less disadvantaged children. The groups don't just assist with learning but also with social competence, emotional maturity, communication and cognitive skills which are all learnt through play."
Playgroups are also important for parents as they provide support networks where parenting skills and tips can be shared in an informal and unintimidating environment.
This is especially true for parents who are new to an area, or indeed to the country, or who have children with disabilities. Involvement in a playgroup often provides the first link to a community and the network of friends and support that people need to truly become part of that community.
Playgroup engagement is higher in regional areas, with 42% attendance rate for remote Australia. In major cities attendance was at 34.6%.
The events taking place around the country are open to everyone, not just Playgroup members. These events recognise the fundamental role of playgroup in young children's development and wellbeing.
The World's Biggest Playgroup Day event will be held on 23 March at Luna Park and will feature a variety of exciting performances by Hi-5, Sam Moran and Play School. It will have interactive and educational activities for babies to six year olds as well as practical advice for parents about breastfeeding, settling, nutrition and more.
For more information on all the other exciting events head to: http://playgroupaustralia.org.au
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About Playgroup Australia Playgroup Australia is the peak body representing and supporting state and territory playgroup organisations (STOs) and community playgroups across Australia. With 200,000 participating families, Playgroup Australia is one of Australia's largest volunteer movements, second only to the Surf Life Savers. The playgroup movement has been providing and supporting playgroups for more than 40 years through volunteerism and the outreach work of each STO in ensuring that all families with young children in Australia have access to quality playgroups.
About the research Researchers used the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) to look at how young children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school and whether attending playgroups improved their school-readiness. The results show that children who do not attend playgroups are 1.78 times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable on one or more of the AEDC domains - physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive, and communication.