ENGAGE

is an evidence-based approach to developing children’s self-regulation skills through play

ENGAGE

is backed by research

Delivering ENGAGE involves playing a selection of familiar children’s games for up to 30 minutes a day, to develop the emotional, cognitive and behavioural skills that children need to thrive at school and lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

ENGAGE was developed by Dr Dione Healey (University of Otago) and is delivered in ECE and school environments in partnership with Methodist Mission Southern – with support from the Tindall Foundation.

In research trials with a diverse range of whānau, ECE and primary school participants, ENGAGE has been consistently demonstrated to support statistically significant improvements in children’s self-regulation development, including reductions in hyperactivity, aggression and peer problems, and improvements in attention, effortful control and emotional regulation.

ENGAGE is also being used in a large scale research partnership with Best Start Educare, The Wright Family Foundation and Emotional Regulation Aotearoa New Zealand (ERANZ), focussed on supporting oral language and self-regulation for New Zealand children.

The ENGAGE PlayTools website is designed for ECE kaiako and primary school teachers in New Zealand. The website currently contains 36 games and over 200 game variations that can be played in large or small groups by ECE and primary school aged children, plus additional learning support tools, video guides, and resources to help achieve positive long-term self-regulation outcomes for tamariki.

ENGAGE...

getting started

ENGAGE is delivered by a team of trained facilitators, and includes:

Interactive training workshops for teachers to customise ENGAGE for each learning environment and support self-regulation and classroom behaviour
Access to ENGAGE games and resources (including website resources)
Classroom coaching visits and ongoing support from ENGAGE facilitators
Ongoing professional development and train-the-trainer opportunities and networking with other ECEs and schools delivering ENGAGE

To get started with ENGAGE at your early childhood centre or school, or to find out more information - please enquire below

WHAT

is self-regulation?

Self-regulation skills help us manage our emotions, thoughts and behaviours – our feeling, thinking and doing skills.

Self-regulation skills help children and adults perform important tasks every day, including; remembering instructions, ignoring distractions, juggling multiple tasks at once, sticking at difficult or frustrating tasks, resisting the temptation to do something that might not be good for us, waiting for rewards, taking turns, working well with others, recognising and managing our feelings, dealing with difficult emotions (anger, fear, anxiety, frustration etc), and more.

Self-regulation skills can be improved with regular, high-quality practice.

People with better self-regulation skills make better decisions more often, and are able to function more effectively in a wider range of situations – leading to more positive outcomes across their lifespan – as demonstrated by the Dunedin Longitudinal Study finding that self-regulation (self-control) skills in early life are the most accurate predictor of a broad range of adult lifecourse outcomes including educational, physical health, employment, income, relationship, and criminal offending outcomes.

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or get in touch with us to learn more...

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