Goals: To improve the early years education of children and enhance the skills of childminders and parents
Funding: 8,225 a year from European Commission's Grundtvig fund, plus match funding from the Northern Ireland Childminding Association (Nicma)
Contact: Nicma 028 9181 1015
Schemes that educate children through play are common but the Smiley Faces project stands out because of its pledge to develop skills and knowledge in childminders and parents, promoting cultural awareness and diversity along the way.
This pan-European project, being piloted in Northern Ireland by Nicma, has a number of aims. The idea is that adult learners - childminders and parents - will develop their own skills by putting together bags of toys, games and resources designed to reflect local culture.
Project partners in Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus and Bulgaria will also make bags, which can be swapped among children in different countries to teach cultural diversity.
Literacy skills and child development awareness are just two of the skills adults can pick up from the scheme, says association director Bridget Nodda.
The eight childminders taking part have thrown themselves into it with enthusiasm, she adds. "Everyone is learning about different cultures and the whole scheme is very much directed and led by childminders," she says.
Anything from books and tapes to building blocks or other toys can go into the bags. In one area, a model of a local bridge together with information about its history went into the bag.
What next The adult training aspect of the scheme is timely, as a recent Nicma report found more than 70 per cent of childminders in Northern Ireland have no formal training. The pilot began in September and Nodda hopes the scheme will expand this year.
"The bag is almost a template, you could replicate it very cheaply," she says. "We're certainly open to other people taking part in the project."
