Dr Megan Gunnar, Vroom Advisor
Contact innovator
Vroom
Innovation Overview
How can I help my child learn and have the best start in life?
The science of early childhood development is clear: the earliest years of a child’s life offer an incredible time of learning and development. During this time, the architecture of a child’s brain is rapidly forming—at a rate of one million neural connections every single second.
What fosters these connections and makes them strong? Positive interactions with the adults in a children’s lives.
Because parents today are overwhelmed and stressed, how can they make extra time for “brain-building”? That’s where Vroom comes in!
Vroom was developed in collaboration with leaders in neuroscience, psychology, behavioral economics, parenting, and early childhood development. Their collective goal: to share the proven science of early brain development in new ways so parents and other caregivers have the tools they need to help all children become thriving adults.
To do this, Vroom translates complex early learning and development research discoveries into free tips and activities that are simple enough to fit into the daily routines of parents and are right at their fingertips.
With over 1,000 tips written in clear, accessible language, Vroom celebrates the work parents are already doing to support their children’s growing brains and shows it doesn’t take extra toys or time to help boost their child’s learning. All 1,000 tips are available in both English and Spanish.
There are tons of tips to explore and caregivers have the assurance that each tip is based on early childhood pedagogy and research.
Tips are available to parents and caregivers across many channels: on the Vroom website, the Vroom app, the Vroom by Text program, as an Alexa skill, and in print materials. Every Vroom tip is age-appropriate, so a one-year-old and a five-year-old won’t get the same tips.
Additionally, Vroom partners with trusted brands and organizations such as Goya Foods, Baby Box, and the Association of Children’s Museums to meet parents where they are and inspire a brain-building interaction. Rather than expecting parents to make time for extra activities in their busy lives, Vroom identifies overlooked moments, like bath time, mealtime, or visits to places like the doctor's office, as underutilized opportunities to engage in learning and brain-building.
Since launch, Vroom has reached nearly 1 million families across the U.S, and the globe.
Vroom helps parents, caregivers and others help nurture a child's learning while strengthening the adult-child relationship. Every Vroom activity helps teach your child the life skills they need to thrive today—and in the future.
HundrED Academy Review
Positive, supportive experiences with parents and other adults are important to children’s brain development. These foundational interactions build brain architecture and help ensure that children will have strong and resilient brains.
Vroom Tips give parents effective, easy ways to promote learning and bond with their child. It’s ideal to brain build from birth, but it’s never too late to start.
While measuring the longitudinal impact of investments in early childhood education takes decades, Vroom has demonstrated near-term success against three important indicators: awareness, behavior, and usability.
Our research suggests that using Vroom Tips:
- increases parents’ understanding of their child’s development
- helps parents gain confidence in their parenting skills
- increases the frequency and quality of interactions between adults and children
The specific positive parent-child interactions that Vroom promotes through its tips and materials can have lasting impact on children's outcomes, according to 2016 research by Gadsen, Ford, and Breiner. [1]
We are currently working with Child Trends to examine success in communities around the country. To help communities with their own evaluation efforts, we also worked with Child Trends to create the Vroom evaluation guidebook.
[1] Gadsden, V. L., Ford, M. A., & Breiner, H. (2016). Parenting matters: supporting parents of children ages 0-8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.)
After piloting in King County Washington, Vroom has expanded to 28 states and 7 countries.