Early childhood (0–2 years) is a critical developmental period requiring media design aligned with cognitive, emotional, and sensory growth. However, many emerging media creators lack grounding in child development principles necessary for age-appropriate production. This practice-based study examines how structured creative training can strengthen such capacity, using cloth book development as both the pedagogical framework and a site of media production inquiry. The project implemented a design-based, iterative training model grounded in early childhood development theory and creative capacity-building frameworks. Ten creative teams participated in intensive workshops, expert mentorship, and multiple rounds of prototype testing and refinement. Following a structured pitching process, one team was selected to advance to full-scale production under sustained specialist guidance, enabling deeper application of developmentally informed design principles in a real-world context. Findings indicate a substantive shift in creative decision-making—from content-driven production toward developmentally informed design. Narrative complexity was reduced in favor of high-contrast imagery, intentional tactile elements, and simplified interaction sequencing. Observational testing with children aged 0–2 years and their caregivers suggested enhanced sensory engagement and caregiver-mediated interaction. The study demonstrates that embedding developmental knowledge within iterative creative training can generate a transferable capacity-building model for responsible early childhood media production in emerging creative ecosystems.

Authors:
Raweewan Sap-in, Thammasat University, Thailand

About the Presenter(s)
Raweewan Sap-in is an Assistant Professor at the College of Innovation, Thammasat University, Thailand. Raweewan's interests lie at the intersection of culture and media production, creative capacity building, creative industry, and early childhood.

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