The Copenhagen Daycare Project

In The Copenhagen Daycare Project, we evaluate the effect of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) training program.

In collaboration with the City of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University College, 200 daycare providers are trained with the CIP training program. The CIP training program aims to help daycare providers who work with children aged 0-3 years to improve their abilities to form healthy and stimulating relationships with children in daycare.

The CIP training program has been developed by the Dutch researcher Katrien Helmerhorst and colleagues and focuses on six interactive skills that are important for supporting children’s development. The six interactive skills are: sensitive responsiveness, respect for autonomy, structuring and limit setting, verbal communication, developmental stimulation and fostering positive peer interactions.

How it works in practice

The CIP training itself takes place over 4 or 6 training sessions, where 1-2 daycare providers together with a CIP trainer focus on the 6 skills. In CIP training, we use a video feedback method. This means that the daycare providers, together with the CIP trainer, looks at video recordings of their interactions with the children in the daycare centre. The video recordings consist of four different situations: lunch/snack, free play, diapering, and a transition between group activities. In the training, the daycare providers and the CIP trainer have a dialogue and reflection about the daycare providers practice shown in the video recordings with focus on the six interaction skills.

You can read more about CIP here.

Within The Copenhagen Daycare Project, we develop and test a new observational method. This tool aims to support daycare providers to identify and understand children who may need extra help with developing good strategies to cope with difficult emotions.

In Denmark, more than 90% of all 0-3-year-old children attend professional daycare, so daycare providers play an important role in supporting the children's socio-emotional development. Therefore, the way in which the children are able to seek and get comfort from their daycare providers is important for their development. Some children may not yet know quite how to express their difficult feelings, and they may show anger or withdraw instead of asking for help or comfort. This may put them in risk of less positive or comforting interactions with their caregivers in daycare. The aim of the observational method is to help the daycare providers to identify the children whose strategies in relation to looking for help, comfort and care is not optimal so that the daycare providers can offer these children the (extra) socio-emotional support that they need.

Based on the CIP video recordings, made in the first part of the research project, we will observe the children's behavior in relation to their daycare providers during their daily activities. We are interested in the many different ways in which children express their emotions through their behavior, as well as how and when children approach an adult.

This part of the project will contribute to the development of the observational method, which in the long term will support the daycare providers in understanding children's varying, social, and emotional behavior and identifying and supporting the children who need extra support. 

Should you have any questions, please contact:

The project group

Mette Skovgaard Væver Professor	Katrine Røhder Associate professor	Ida Egmose Pedersen Assistant professor
Marianne Krogh Head of Centre Administration	Tina Wahl Haase PhD student	Signe Petterson Platz - on maternity leave Research assistant
Camilla Stejnmejer Iversen Research assistant	Clara Christensen Vieira Research assistant

Student assistants

Katrine Krogh Hansen Psychology student	Caroline Egeberg Clausen Intern, psychology student	Ida Marie Jerl Blinkenberg Intern, psychology student
Anna Fleng Nielsen Psychology student	Johanne N. Frantzen Psychology student	Olivia Rode Diness Psychology student
Nina Østergaard Psychology student	Sigrid Bertram Psychology student	Marie Hjort Andersen Psychology student
Elvira Vilsbæk Kongstad Psychology student	Thilde Refstrup Hylgaard Psychology student	Sofie Lindegaard Nielsen Psychology student
Mie Friis Larsen Psychology student	Asbjørn Dam Heskjær Christinsen Psychology student

External partners

Sophie Reijman Lektor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vibe Larsen Docent, University College Copenhagen