5 reasons parents should participate in research with kids

Around the world, researchers have been working with kids to help improve education and care together. Research projects are often run by scientists in psychology, and health to inform parents, education providers, healthcare professionals and policy-makers to develop better programs and care for children.  However, they are challenging to do because of the low public enrollment and the lack of information availability to parents about research participation. It's time to become informed about research participation as a family.

From parent-child interactions, to mental health of kids, to child nutrition, to learning abilities, many topics are studied by researchers.  These topics are studied safely in a variety of ways, such as:

• Observing kids play games, puzzles and learning activities
• Interviewing children and parents
• Testing new products and programs via first-hand interaction

Due to the pandemic, many studies have now moved online to adjust to social distancing measures amidst current events, so you can now do them in the comfort of your couch!

Here are 5 reasons why you should participate in research with your kids.

1. It's a great way to spend time with your kids

Researchers try to make research fun and rewarding for you and your kids. From games and puzzles, to learning activities, research is actually a great way to spend time with your kids. The time commitment of the research study varies from one session to multiple session that encourage your family to set aside time in your schedules on a recurring basis to wind down and do the activities together.

2. A learning opportunity for your kids

Learning outside of school in the family doesn't have to be a bookish experience every time. Change it up!

Studies suggest that children perform better when given a choice according to their own will. On Honeybee, you and your kids can browse through research studies together to see what activities captures their attention! Getting to choose their own activities enhances their creative skills whenever they are given a chance to think out of the box and have a firm belief that their ideas matter.

Beyond being fun, many research studies can be opportunities for your kids to learn. In many children's research studies, short tasks and activities help researchers learn about children's attitudes and their ability to learn; and meanwhile they are exposed to various situations where they are required to react, learn to make decisions and demonstrate certain skills. For example, some studies on Honeybee require parents and kid pairs to jump on Zoom calls with the researcher to complete specific learning tasks and games.

Beyond learning through the activities, it's a great way for children to start getting a sense of community contribution. After all, your kids are super heroes and actually helping other kids benefit from better products, services and programs for all children in the community.

3. Get to know how your child perceives the world

Not only are researchers learning something about your kids, while doing the research activities you get to see how your kids behave, how they react, and how they learn. It's one step closer to cracking down on why they do the cute things they do, but also why sometimes they just make you so mad.

4. Instilling the mindset of working for reward

Instead of trying to teach children the mindset of earning reward from hard work, there's no better way to instill this message other than learn-by-doing. Many research studies compensate you and your children for your time and care to join research studies with reward incentives. This could be in the form of gift cards, cash, stickers, toys and many others. Joining research studies is a great way for your kids to learn that time commitment and hard work can result in receiving goodies.

5. Enhance education and care for your kids

In many research areas that are starting to get research attention for adults, such as psychology, mental health, nutrition, and wellness, these same areas are research gaps that still need to be filled when it comes to children. Moreover, in these particular research areas, we also have limited understanding on how boys and girls may differ. Participating in research will provide decision-makers the right tools and data to improve systems in healthcare, education and in the community. These will in-turn benefit your own children in the long run, as we develop better tools to help parents, teachers, healthcare practitioners and policy makers.

If you are considering participating in research with your children, Honeybee ensures all research studies coming through are safe and conducted by renowned universities and institutions. Some examples of current active studies include research involving online games, testing apps and other technologies aimed to make learning more fun.

Moreover, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are juggling the health & safety of your children and ensuring that they keep on learning. Helping teachers in redesigning the school curriculum by giving them data to help develop better lesson plans and teaching styles to encourage your child's interest may be a good step towards better learning.

The devastation caused by this pandemic is an opportunity to build an even better future for our children, their families, and their communities. It is a good time to this as chance to improve the education system and leverage technology to provide children with more learning options that cater to various learning styles. We can develop a future where we may provide every child tailored learning solutions based on their unique needs allowing for equal opportunity to succeed, get involved in the school system and access to resources.

As schools re-open and safe education still up in the air amidst the pandemic, consider research participation a weekend activity with your kids to keep them learning all the time! Parents with infants all the way to teenagers are recruited to help researchers gather the data to develop products, services and regulations.

Take a look below and you might just find a study you can do with your kid!