Produced jointly with Openreach, the DVD 'Chatter Matters' is presented by the BBC's childcare expert Dr Tanya Byron, and shows parents enjoying easy interaction with their children while doing things at home such as putting the shopping away or getting ready for bed.
Insights into the importance of language development are provided by England's children's commissioner Sir Al Aynsley-Green and Toxic Childhood author Sue Palmer, while families give first-hand accounts of the communication difficulties their children have experienced.
The DVD has a karaoke section encouraging parents and children to sing nursery rhymes together, and a series of Chatter Charts for marking a child's progress.
Speech therapist Kate Freeman, who also appears on the DVD, said at the launch, 'Adults will be able to take away with them ideas and tips to help them support communication development without adding to their already busy lives.'
A total of 175,000 packages are being distributed free to parents and families through I CAN and its partners, while hard-to-reach families will be targeted through children's centres.
Meanwhile, children at the Just Learning nursery in Huntingdon raised Pounds 100 towards I CAN's annual fundraiser, Chatterbox Challenge. They dressed up as animals to sing animal songs and enjoyed healthy snacks based on the foods they knew that animals like to eat.
Find information at www.ican. org.uk/makechattermatter.
