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NUS, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine 
What is LET’S Play?
The LET’S Play programme is a research study that involves a free 4-6-session programme designed to help grandparent caregivers observe, understand, and respond better to their young grandchild. It consists of coaching sessions, where the coach taps into the grandparent’s existing caregiving expertise and unique relationship with their grandchild to highlight good caregiving practices and suggest further areas where the grandparent can be more responsive when interacting with their grandchild during play.
What does CHILD, NUS hope to do?
We hope to learn whether LET’S Play can enhance grandparents’ caregiving responsiveness and sensitivity during play. We are also interested in finding out grandparents’ and parents’ experiences of the LET’S Play programme and how it fits in with their day-to-day life.
How can I help?
Our team is looking for grandparents who are:
- Caring for a child aged 4 months to 48 months old at least 2 days a week, at least 3 hours per day
- Over 50 years old
- Singaporean Citizens or PRs
- Able to read and write English, Mandarin or Malay
- Willing to take part in simple video-recordings (approx. 10 minutes) of them playing with their grandchild
- Able to commit at least 7 hours over 3 months (2 research sessions and the LET’S Play programme)
With parents/legal guardians of the child aged 4 – 48 months old who are:
- Aged 21 and above
- Able to read and write English, Mandarin or Malay
- Consent to simple video-recordings (approx. 10 minutes) of their child playing with their grandparent
What needs to be done?
- Attend two research sessions, where you will fill out a simple questionnaire related to your perceived confidence, capability, and skills related to play and caregiving and take part in a 10-min video-recording of you interacting with your grandchild (recorded by an NUS-CHILD researcher) during each session.
- Attend four coaching sessions at a place of your choice (home, centre, online) to review the video recordings and identify better ways to understand and respond to your grandchild.
- Attend an optional focus group discussion to share your experiences and feedback after the end of the program. If you agree to attend the focus group discussion, you agree to the audio-recording of the session. agree to the audio-recording of the session.
- Attend two research sessions where a researcher will take a 10-minute video of the grandparent-grandchild interaction.
- Attend two research sessions, where you will fill out a simple questionnaire related to your child’s social and emotional development (can be done online).
- Attend an optional introductory session to learn more about the program.
- Attend an optional focus group discussion to share your experiences and feedback after the end of the program. If you agree to attend the focus group discussion, you agree to the audio-recording of the session.
You will also receive free take-home materials upon participating in the intervention. There are no additional costs associated with participating in this project. Reimbursement will be offered for your time and effort.
To find out more, contact the project officer Natalie Koh at (+65) 8915 8466, lets.play@nus.edu.sg, or simply fill in the form above.
More Information
Being a sensitive and responsive (grandparent) caregiver means being aware of children’s cues and responding appropriately and consistently. A sensitive caregiver understands what a young child needs through the child’s facial expressions, movement, sounds and words. The caregiver then responds consistently to the child in ways that are helpful, nurturing and in-tune with the child’s intentions.
Children of sensitive and responsive caregivers are more likely to show positive outcomes in several areas of development such as social skills, language, emotional, and brain development. For example, helping a young child who is trying to reach for a toy can support the child’s exploration, which helps the young child to be confident and curious about the world.
Studies have shown that good-quality play with responsive caregivers is linked with fewer problem behaviours in children (e.g., aggression, defiance, being withdrawn, anxiety). Playful interactions with caregivers are also related to children being more able to manage their emotions and having better social skills, communication skills, and more capacity for empathy in adolescence.