A different uniform

New York – Unicef has partnered with the H&M Foundation to create a jacket that visualises the stages of early childhood development.

• The UNI_FORM jacket features a range of cognitive games built into the fabric to represent the developmental needs of a child’s brain during their early years
• Nearly 250m children in low- and middle-income countries lack the nutrition, stimulation, nurturing and responsive care needed to develop healthy brain functions

From birth to the age of five there are essential stages of development that every child should achieve, such as motor skills, creative thinking and understanding abstract concepts such as time and emotion. The UNI_FORM jacket and microsite aim to inform parents around the world about the importance of these early stages, and encourage them to interact with their children in ways that feed their brain development.

The jacket, which is not available commercially, features cognitive games such as detachable soft building blocks that represent the need for children to develop motor skills through tactile play, and a unicorn-style hood that symbolises the need for children to have the freedom to role play to help them to develop their imagination and express their feelings.

‘By using UNI_FORM as a symbol, we want to raise awareness around the fact that children who are stimulated in their early years learn more effectively at school and can be of better health than children that do not have these early opportunities,’ says Diana Amini, global manager of the H&M Foundation.