Seven-year-old Molly Wright, the world's youngest Ted-talker, is already making serious waves in the parenting world with her views about child development and adult interaction.
Thrive by Five is one of the latest campaigns in child welfare and has partnered with TED Talk to educate the parents of the world.
Molly moved an entire audience filled with adults, who are no longer her superior but rather her equal. Her main argument: games like peek-a-boo can change the world.
"Every moment together is an opportunity to connect, talk and play," she said.
"Imagine the difference we could make if everyone, everywhere did this. To us. To children. It's so much more than just a game. It's our future."
These poignant final words in Molly's talk brought the audience to its feet, with the campaign gaining momentum when founders Nicola Forrest and Jay Weatherill addressed the National Press Club in Canberra earlier this year.
Molly told the audience games like peek-a-boo may seem silly, but they fire neurons in your children's brains and help boost memory and trust.
Molly didn't just talk about playing games with your children. She delved into the difficult discussion of how parents' reliance on technology can have a harmful long-term for children.
"Kids are hardwired to seek out meaningful connections and not receiving them causes confusion and stress," Molly said.
"Interactions, early and often, matter. Take it from me, the seven-year-old up here talking about brain science."
Molly showed an example of a father using his iPad and ignoring his one-year-old, who tried to reach out for attention.
"Now imagine if a whole childhood was like those last 30 seconds, how hard it would be for a child to feel calm, feel safe, to learn to trust anyone and the life long impact that would have," Molly said.
Mrs Forrest and Mr Weatherill expressed the importance of early learning on child development, and how the government needs to do more to ensure children are meeting their developmental targets.
More than 20 per cent of Australian children are arriving at school developmentally vulnerable. Mrs Forrest said the goal of Thrive by Five was for Australia to be the best place in the world by 2030 and that every child would "thrive by five".
Molly's TED Talk will be played in 1400 doctor waiting rooms across Australia, targeting their primary audience; parents.
Molly's TED Talk has already been shown in maternity wards in Australia and Afghanistan, and UNICEF will support global distribution of the film.
"Not only is this important information to share amongst parents and carers, but policymakers and world leaders," Mrs Forrest said.
The Minderoo Foundation says nine out of 10 parents who have seen the film say it has inspired them to "connect, talk and play more with their kids in their early years".
