A trip to Denmark for The Duchess of Cambridge and The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
The Duchess of Cambridge travelled to Copenhagen on a working trip with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.
The Centre aims to drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years, and the trip provided a great opportunity to learn from Denmark – a country that is widely recognised as a world leader in its approach and investment in early childhood development. Denmark has created an enabling culture for early childhood development, and during the trip, The Duchess found out more about specifically how the country has promoted infant mental wellbeing alongside physical health, and how it harnesses the power of nature, relationships and playful learning in the first five years of life.
The first visit was to the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project, which aims to promote the mental wellbeing of parents and their children – and the relationship between them.
Nationwide family programmes in Denmark give all parents information and support for their infant’s social and emotional needs.
The Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project aims to promote the mental wellbeing of parents and their children – and the relationship between them. pic.twitter.com/zHzkjL8O3o
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) February 22, 2022
The Duchess also met with Health Visitors and Parents at The Children’s Museum to hear how they have benefitted from the ‘Understanding your Baby’ programme. This has allowed health visitors to develop their language and vocabulary around social and emotional development, enabling them to have more helpful conversations with parents and increase their knowledge around their children’s development.
Day One of the trip also saw Her Royal Highness visit PlayLab at Campus Carlsberg – a creative learning environment for students training to be early years professionals – to find out about the Playful Learning Programme. This is a partnership between the six university colleges in Denmark and the LEGO Foundation which aims to strengthen children’s creative, experimental, and playful approach to the world and their desire to learn.
Playful learning inside the PlayLab 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/4F4cMWV5Fi
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) February 22, 2022
Day Two of the trip started with a trip to Stenurten Forest Kindergarten, which focuses on strengthening the children’s self-worth and self-esteem, teaching them how to feel and respond to their boundaries; the importance of a good friendship; the feeling of being in a committed community; and what it means to be a good citizen.
Her Royal Highness then joined The Queen of Denmark and The Crown Princess on a visit to the Danner Crisis Centre – an organisation which works nationally and internationally to end violence against women and children. We know that early childhood trauma has an incredibly significant impact on later life outcomes, and the Danner Centre promotes the importance of supportive relationships, environments and experiences to help create positive outcomes for those experience trauma.
This is the first time The Duchess has brought the work of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood to the international stage, which aims to drive awareness of and action on the extraordinary impact of the early years.
