The short and long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children in early childhood and the restorative potential of communication and creativity

The paper discusses the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on children in early childhood, and whether and how educators and psychologists relied on communication and creativity to help children cope. The literature reports that measures put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 had a significant impact on children's lives: changes in school and family life and restrictions experienced in interactions with adults and peers affected children's emotional and behavioural conditions and learning outcomes. This research work was conducted in the framework of the ALT-ER 2.0 project and investigates whether these measures may have had short and long-term impacts on children and how educators and psychologists helped children in dealing with this experience. Our study followed a qualitative approach; we conducted semi-structured interviews with six teachers working in kindergartens and elementary schools and with three developmental psychologists from Italy and Finland about difficulties during the lockdown and possible lasting effects on mental health, well-being, and learning. In addition, we asked what tools teachers used to support communication with children about the pandemic during remote education and for returning to school, and whether they used creativity in their work, again focusing on the pandemic. Interview transcriptions were analysed using thematic analysis; a bottom-up approach that allowed us to identify several themes that will be presented in the paper. Notwithstanding differences in the measures taken in the two countries to limit the spread of the virus, almost all respondents identified effects on children's well-being and learning. Social isolation was cited as a condition that impacted children's emotions and social skills, and the interruption of regular school attendance particularly affected the learning of the most vulnerable children. Communication was considered important to help children, especially at the time of re-entry, when face-to-face interactions gave them the opportunity to disclose their emotions and discuss the situation. Creativity was described as an important part of educational and therapeutic work and, specifically, useful in finding new ways to interact with children at a distance, although distance itself has been experienced by some interviewees as limiting in this respect.