Devonport
East Devonport Child and Family Learning Centre
Kangaroo Kids
CAPITOL SHOWCASE
Innovation In Action
Showcasing excellent community-based health and wellbeing initiatives
Image
Why was this program needed?
• Centre staff were concerned that the gross motor skills of many children were very low in the Kindergarten Development Check. • A paediatric physiotherapist commented that children did not have a lack of development but more a lack of opportunity. • The need for a program to improve skill levels was developed. • The main goal of the program is to improv gross motor skills of children through increased physical activity.
The East Devonport Child and Family Centre Kangaroo Kids program provides parents and their children with improved levels of physical activity designed to aid children’s gross motor skill development, deliver benefits to families, including improvement of overall health and wellbeing.
• Important allied benefits for parents and family members are improvements in their activity levels and a sense of cohesion when completing physical activity together as a family or extended family group. • The program is highly valued as it brings people together – a feature deemed very important in the East Devonport community.