Parents with very young children are being reminded about a new online campaign to help them develop their child's speech and language skills.

The Hungry Little Minds Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent campaign gives parents online access to fun, easy activities that they can do with their baby or toddler.

Once signed up to the scheme, parents get free personalised emails sent out every fortnight, with age specific activities for them and their child.

Videos, songs and nursery rhymes which help a baby learn about sounds, speech and conversation are examples of the kinds of activities. Parents continue to receive the emails until the child is two years old.

The reminder coincides with National Story Telling Week which runs until Saturday 6 February.

Staffordshire mum, Harriet Roberts was one of the first mums to sign up and test the Hungry Little Minds emails. She said: "It's been great to get the Hungry Little Minds emails and try activities that are right for Betsy's age. She loves books and I was amazed at how much she understood even when she was tiny. Now that's she's nearly two she's chattering away, turning the pages herself and telling me the story! And because we've been at home for most of the past year, Hungry Little Minds has really helped me keep her occupied too."

Mark Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Staffordshire County Council said: "Our Hungry Little Minds programme is all about helping parents to help their children with their speech and language skills. It gives parents all the necessary information and resources they need to make sure their child is developing well.

"The beauty of the campaign is that all the resources are made available online and via emails. This makes it much easier with the current Covid-19 lockdown in place and the fact that many face-to-face activities for babies and young children are not currently running.

"We know that getting to children at the earliest opportunity is really important for their development and this is just what our campaign does. I would definitely encourage parents to sign up and take advantage of the free resources and help."

In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent one in four children don't reach a good level of communication development by the time they start school. This often leaves them behind their peers, making it difficult to catch up.

Councillor Janine Bridges, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cabinet member for education and economy, said: "We want our city's children to have the best possible start in life.

"A good level of communication, including being able to understand both spoken and written words are essential skills for our children.

"The Hungry Little Minds campaign is supporting parents with how important their role is in helping children to learn these essential skills before starting school. Empowering children with these building blocks will enable them to thrive and live well into adulthood."

The campaign, which launched in September 2020, is being run by Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Resources and activities were developed with the help of parents, health partners, teachers and early years professionals.

The campaign builds on the national Hungry Little Minds campaign and includes BBC Tiny Happy People videos.

Parents can sign up for the scheme by clicking here.