LIME Project Toolkit

Listening through play-based methods (LIME): Young children’s experiences of family life in the aftermath of a global pandemic is a British Academy funded project that ran between October 2023 and March 2025. The project explored meaningful ways to capture young children’s voices and experiences of family by focusing on both their verbal and non-verbal expressions.

In this toolkit, we illustrate the LIME process that resulted from working with three private day nurseries between December 2023 and May 2024. The project activities were informed by a preliminary questionnaire with parents about what children do with their families, which inspired the design of the kitchen, outdoor and clay trays. The toolkit offers insight, and a set of resources developed during the project, which we hope will encourage anyone working with young children to listen more purposefully and intently to the vast knowledge that the youngest members of society can share with us.