Princess Catherine has spoken of a sweet pastime that she shared with her children during the Coronavirus lockdown. The 44-year-old is currently in Northern Italy for a two-day visit on behalf of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

On the first day of her visit, Catherine jumped into her waiting car and travelled to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, which serves as a meeting place for international researchers, teachers, and families, focusing on creativity, research, and the documentation of children's learning. Shortly after arriving, she said: "I'm looking forward to hearing more. I've been meaning to come for quite some time, so to be here now is very exciting."

Inside, she met educators and practitioners to learn more about the key concepts of the Reggio Emilia approach, how it supports social and emotional development and how it aligns to the skills in the Shaping Us Framework.

Inside, Catherine was shown a table covered with multi-coloured plastic objects for children to play with.

Pointing, the princess said: "I did this in lockdown with the children, we tried to find as many objects in the house as we could with as many colours in the rainbow as possible."

Catherine is a proud mum to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who would have been aged six, four and one during the first lockdown in early 2020.

George is now approaching his 13th birthday this summer, whilst his younger sister and brother recently marked their 11th and eighth birthdays.

After seeing several "light sensory" spaces that children engage with, she rolled up her suit sleeves and got stuck into the centre's clay atelier workshop, led by atelierista Marco Spaggiari, where she heard how an atelier works in practice, and how children benefit.

Shaking hands with some of the other atlieristsas, Catherine laughed as they apologised for smearing her with clay: "Don't worry! I have children - I'm used to it."

Sitting down at the table covered with lumps of clay, the princess spoke of how beneficial it is for a child to "actually be able to stop and use your hands and pay attention...these simple things that are all around us".