Young children’s participation: Ways to engage and what’s needed to do it well

Despite ongoing beliefs that “children should be seen and not heard” and are less capable than adults, there is growing evidence that children’s participation—even the very young—has important benefits, both for children and for their communities. Through participation, children can gain self-esteem, confidence, and problem-solving skills. For children facing adversity, there can be added benefits, as participation can enable a sense of control, and a way to deal with severe stress. And even more broadly, communities can benefit from children’s participation by building stronger social cohesion and more inclusive democratic processes.

Despite this evidence and growing international consensus of the importance of children’s participation—as enshrined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child—notable gaps remain. There are different conceptualizations of child participation, challenges in operationalizing it, and uncertainty in how participation can translate into influence. Facilitating children’s participation requires a change in mindset, as many do not have a clear understanding of children’s potential and capacity at different ages. It also requires adults to use developmentally appropriate approaches with children.  

This commentary presents two promising approaches we used for fostering young children’s participation—imaginative play and photovoice—and some of our emerging lessons from their implementation. We hope the emerging learnings can support practitioners and researchers as they try to understand children’s perspectives to better design and implement programs and promote policies that support learning, development, and well-being.

Imaginative play

For young children with less developed oral communication skills than their older peers, participation can build on their existing forms of self-expression, including imaginative and dramatic play. Play helps children understand and process the world. Evidence indicates that re-narration of difficult experiences using imagination and wishful elements can foster healing.

Our Sueños en Ruta initiative engaged Venezuelan migrant children aged 3-12 in Colombia in sharing their migration stories. The project used two child-centered participatory methodologies: creating an imagined character to tell their story and designing an object that could help others face challenges. Children developed a character who collected stories and experiences of migrant children during their journey, created the storyteller using basic art materials, and through this character, shared their stories of migration. They also designed objects to help other children face challenges. The children brainstormed about the challenges they faced on their own journeys and what could have helped them. Then they used basic materials (cardboard, paint, markers, etc.) to construct the object they had designed. This approach helped them identify and face the challenges they experienced, while also developing a sense of agency to mitigate those challenges for others. The project team has begun using videos showing these stories to engage the Colombian government at the local and national levels.

Photovoice

Photovoice is a qualitative participatory methodology that enables individuals to visually document their lived experiences and share their perspectives through photography, with an aim to bring about social change. Participants capture images of their lives and use the photographs to express their perspectives and catalyze dialogue and action in their communities. Discussions about the images can raise awareness about children’s experiences and the challenges they face and provide an opportunity to develop community-based and policy solutions. While most examples come from adults or older children, some photovoice projects have successfully worked with young children.

Our child-centered photovoice project with young children displaced by the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye provided disposable cameras to Turkish and Syrian children aged 5-12, who took photos of their daily lives. Based on the photos—many of which depicted home, loved ones, play, and nature—and interviews with the children and families, a few key findings emerged. Children and their families said the children felt empowered and developed self-efficacy, responsibility, and a sense of hope. Recommendations from the project included creating more play and garden spaces and supporting more child- and parent-centered activities. Some of these ideas are being implemented by local organizations and are being considered by government actors exploring policies for displaced communities.

Emerging lessons

These two approaches provide practical insights into how to effectively support children’s participation. By implementing these approaches with sufficient preparation, child-centeredness, and time, adults can gain new perspectives from young children and use these to better design and implement programs and promote policies that support their learning, development, and well-being.

Train adults to increase understanding and foster attitudinal shifts

Facilitating young children’s participation requires an attitudinal shift and training for adults involved, including practitioners or researchers. Adults’ attitudes toward the capabilities of children, especially young ones, can create barriers for actively engaging them as adults may not understand young children’s full capacity. Many adults may also need training and practical skill-building support to understand and facilitate young children’s engagement.

Utilize age-appropriate approaches

Younger and older children have different capabilities. During the early years, children are still developing their verbal communication skills, so expressing themselves through play, drawing, photographs, and other imaginative approaches can be a great way for them to participate. Using approaches they know naturally will help them feel at greater ease with adults and result in their authentic views surfacing.

Build in extra time: Working with young children requires time and patience

It is also important to not rush the process of participation, especially with very young children. Building rapport and trust with young children takes time as it may require trying different activities, giving children multiple opportunities to engage, and building in repeat interactions so adult facilitators become familiar and trustworthy. They may not be ready to express themselves for days or months until they feel comfortable. 

What’s next

While evidence on facilitating young children’s participation in various contexts is growing, there is still a lot we do not know. Under what circumstances do children gain most from participation? Do families and communities benefit from children’s participation, and if so, how? What is needed to translate children’s participation into meaningful influence in policy and programs? How can we support adults to listen to and adopt children’s perspectives? How can we mainstream and scale child participation initiatives? And how can we do these things in humanitarian contexts, where priorities are often placed on other needs?

Centering research, practice, and policy on young children’s participation, including in crisis contexts, will be a focus for the Center for Universal Education (CUE). On April 28, 2025, CUE will host a one-day symposium and a workshop on this topic. In the coming year, CUE, the University of Virginia Humanitarian Collaborative, and its partners will publish an in-depth case study and a toolkit for practitioners and researchers.