I started Ready Steady Go because I struggled to find fun and engaging educational videos for my one-year-old, Cosmo. In the early days I started to worry about his development; is he smiling enough, does he make eye contact, am I talking and singing to him enough? All of the things we are told as parents are vital in the early years of development.

“In a baby’s first 1,000 days of life, a baby’s brain develops at a pace never repeated again. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a baby’s brain and shape a child’s ability to learn and grow.” Source Unicef: 2010 – 2022

So I started looking for inspiration. What I was hoping to find were techniques to help his communication and language development, positive and enjoyable videos we could watch together, plus some memorable songs that I could use in every day life… I wanted videos that were beneficial for Cosmo’s development.

Then I stumbled across an even bigger problem.

Sadly, here in the UK as well as other parts of the world, speech & language services for babies and toddlers are under-funded and oversubscribed – the NHS does amazing things, but unfortunately demand outstrips supply. This means those little ones with speech and language developmental delays and challenges are often unable to get the support they need.

I am on a mission to try and help. I realised that if I could create videos based on proven speech & language techniques (i.e. basic sign language, repetition, eye contact) that I use everyday with Cosmo, the series could help a wide range of little ones with a variety of needs in a warm, playful and entertaining way.