Child Voice Project
A play-based initiative to hear directly from children under age 9 about their well-being.
About the Child Voice Project
The Child Voice Project (CVP) is a play-based project that gives children age 8 and under a chance to share about their well-being and thoughts about the community.
The CYPT worked with the Toronto Metropolitan University’s International & Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP), and the Carleton University’s Landon Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood and Childhood Rights (LPC) to launch a one-day pilot event.
On April 5, 2025, 25 diverse children between the ages of 6-8 took part in the event. They shared their ideas of what a caring community looks and feels like. To learn more, read the Child Voice Project report.
What Children are Saying
Our Journey to Meaningful Child Engagement
Learn more about how we got to this point in our exploration of Child Engagement.
April - October 2023
Our journey to meaningful child engagement has been a priority since the CYPT formed in 2011. However, this work ramped up in 2023 when the Child Engagement In Systems Lead position was added to the Backbone Team. With a dedicated 0.75 full-time equivalent staff member focusing all their time on Child Engagement, we began working towards a shared understanding of child engagement.
November 2023 - March 2024
At the CYPT Annual Forum in November 2023, Child Engagement in Systems Lead (CESL) Solami Okunlola gave a presentation about her research on Child Engagement and what the latest academic research was saying. We heard back from members about draft language that could potentially become our shared understanding of Child Engagement at the CYPT.
May 2024: Shared Understanding of Child Engagement
Following months of research and member engagement, in March 2024 we shared drafted language with CYPT Voting Members for feedback. In May 2024, we announced the fully endorsed and agreed upon shared understanding of meaningful Child Engagement in the Children and Youth Planning Table collective:
“Child engagement means interacting with a child in a way that helps them feel confident and curious, so they can contribute to their communities in ways that matter to them.”
September 2024 - March 2025
The Child Voice Project Advisory Group forms at the CYPT. Alongside the CYPT Early Years Community of Practice (EYCoP), they begin mapping out what the Child Voice Project will look like.
In September, we engage with the Landon Pearson Centre about the possibility of using the Shaking the Movers framework to pilot the Child Voice Project. Detailed planning continues for the one-day event to hear directly from children in April 2025.
April 2025: Child Voice Project & CRAN
The one-day play-based event happens at the Kitchener Public Library. 25 diverse children give their thoughts about their well-being and their community. 10 local youth facilitate the sessions and two lead youth facilitators write the Shaking the Movers Report.
In late April, CYPT presented alongside other communities on this pilot project at the national Child Rights Academic Network Meeting (CRAN) in Ottawa hosted by the Landon Pearson Centre. Insights from this event were used to create a message for the G7 Leaders’ Summit in June 2025.
Next Steps
We’re scaling up! In the later half of 2025, we will partner with local community organizations to host a series of one-day events to hear from children aged 6-8. In line with CYPT’s Data in Action, we will create a plan to share children’s thoughts with decision makers at family, program, and governmental levels. We also look forward to continuing our partnership with the Landon Pearson Centre.
Questions?
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