Baby face qualitative Evaluation

Group Connections and events
At least once a month families are invited to a group event which is held at the school in most 
cases. They hear speakers, make books and toys for their children that often include the local 
culture and language, do parent-child activities, and learn to feel good about being at the school. 
The PAT curriculum includes refers to these as Group Connections, which are called Family 
Circles in most Baby FACE programs. 

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Baby FACE 
Wilder Research, January 2015 
 
Qualitative Evaluation 
31 
Successes 
Group activities 
Parent educators at nine sites noted the group activities held at Family Circles were successful. 
Many noted specific hands-on activities related to holidays, such as wreath-making, or cultural 
activities, such as dream catchers. Group activities also included field trips to the zoo or 
amusement parks, or fitness and nutrition activities, such as Zumba or cooking classes. These 
group activities allow parents more opportunities to interact with their children and do an activity 
together, but also for families to interact with each other. Kids can play and interact with other 
kids their same age, and parents have an opportunity to share parenting experiences and get to 
know each other.
Parents at four sites also noted the activities that were part of Family Circle events. Several noted 
that the activities were new opportunities for their family, and some took the activities they did 
in Family Circles and built upon those activities at home.
There were activities. One was taking the kids to the zoo, museum - interacting in public. Some of 
us don’t go to these things, so it was an eye opener. 
One of the activities my daughter liked, they brought in soil and they learned how to plant flowers. 
We still have it. That’s where she learned how to plant and we went to the hardware store and she 
wanted seeds, so we planted squash, watermelon over the summer, and that was her plant. It 
taught her responsibility; she’d water them. 
Presenters 
In addition to linking families to new resources, presenters provided parents an opportunity to learn 
about a new topic. The most memorable presenters from the parents’ perspective were practical 
and hands on, such as car seat demonstrations and fittings, appropriate kissing, dental health and 
techniques for getting your child to brush their teeth, nutrition and getting your child to eat, 
college representatives to help parents enroll, and traditional healers.
Meals
Ten parent educators and three supervisors at nine sites noted incorporating meals into Family 
Circles was successful. Some organized a potluck; others provided a pre-prepared meal, while a 
few noted meal preparation as part of the event. Serving a meal helped encourage families to 
attend, while also building community. Families had opportunities to mingle and share during 
meal times.

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