The Early Years Foundation Stage: Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for children from birth to five

• When you talk to babies, make sure you are face to face.
• It's important to share quiet moments together. Babies enjoy the intimacy of being close and looking at each other. They are learning about people and themselves as they do so.
• Comment when babies move or make sounds, for example, when a baby burps, say "Do you feel better now?".
• Touch is very important. Stroking, tickling and cuddles all help babies to become aware of you and enjoy being with you and listening to you.
• Keep close and encourage babies to feel or look at your face. Let them feel your lips when you're talking or making play noises. Young babies find faces very interesting.
• Copy the sounds, mouth movements and facial expressions that babies use. Sometimes they'll start to copy you too.
• Copy any sounds and gestures babies make while they're watching you.
• Watch out for how babies show frustration or discomfort and for how this changes once they're comforted or satisfied. When babies cry, lift them up and reassure them.
• Rock babies rhythmically to songs and music.
• Watch out for how babies show that they've had enough and want to stop interaction. They may start to cry, stiffen, lean away from you or close their eyes and mouth. Give the two of you a break – they will show you when they're ready to play again.
• Call a baby's name gently as you approach them and say "Up you come!". Wait to see if they can show you that they want to be picked up.
• 'Mirror' a baby's feelings through your voice intonation, body movement and facial expressions. This shows them that you are 'tuning in' to their moods.

• Watch and respond to any attempt by babies to communicate with you, using voice, facial expression or gesture.
• When having a 'conversation', give babies plenty of time to 'reply'.
• When you come into a room, call the baby's name and give them time to respond by stopping and listening, turning towards you or vocalising. Reward them with your attention when they respond.
• Play 'give and take' games where toys or objects are exchanged – ask babies to pass you objects and then give praise when they do so.
• Join in and repeat the games babies 'ask' for.
• Try to focus on the same thing as babies and talk about what they're attending to.
• Look at children when they're talking to you.
• Watch and wait for children to pause and then use the opportunity to comment.
• This is the stage when children start to become wary of strangers and anxious if separated from familiar carers. This is a positive sign that children are developing secure relationships with key adults in their lives. Help children to feel secure with a number of adults by giving them the opportunity to be held and cared for by a number of different people.
• When you leave, tell a child that you're going out but will be back later and give them a warm greeting and hug when you return.
• Wave children's hands for "Bye bye" when someone is leaving the setting and ask the person to wave from a distance as they go out.

Dressing:

• Tell babies that you are about to dress or undress them using words and actions before you start.
• Name body parts, for example, as you gently bend a leg to go into trousers or as you put an arm into a sleeve.
• Sit babies on your knees and use words such as "push" as you put their arm through a sleeve or leg into trousers. Say "pull" when you pull on a hat. They will feel the movement that your body is making and this will help them to understand how they have to move when they begin to take a more active role in dressing.
• When changing nappies, give babies something in their hands to play with, or hang a mobile over the changing surface to discourage rolling.
• Children can usually undress themselves long before they can put clothes on. Encourage them to take part in undressing by partially removing items such as socks so they are just dangling off the toes and supporting them to give the final tug. Give lots of praise and extend this to other simple items such as hats.
• Ask babies to help by saying "Lift your legs" and then lift their legs to indicate what you want them to do. After a while they'll start to react to your instructions.
• Make dressing activities playful, by calling "Boo" up a sleeve to encourage children to put their arm in clothing. Say "Where's that wriggly worm?" as a foot is pushed down into trousers.
• Use a reverse chaining technique to continue work on skills to take clothes off. This means that you do all but the last step to begin with, and expect the children to complete the job. Gradually increase the number of steps they have to do, for example, they have to pull a sock off their toes, and then pull it over their heel. Expect children to do a little more each time. Start with activities that can be done when sitting on a stable base like the floor.

• Respond to children's vocalisations or behaviours if they're trying to attract your attention. If you're busy out of sight, say "I can hear you, I'm coming".
• Talk about what a child is doing, what they have been doing and will do.
• Talk about what other people are doing and later about what people who are not there are doing, for example, "Pippa's at school".
• Join in games that children initiate.
• Clap, praise and show your pleasure when children do something pleasing.
• Enjoy everyday activities together and chat about what you are doing.
• Make sure children have opportunities to see other people communicating and having fun together.
• If a child shows anxiety when left alone in a room, tell them you can hear them, what you're doing and that you'll be coming back soon. Use your voice to reassure them until you return.
• If children hit or push other children or adults, say firmly, "No, that hurts them" and move them on to another activity. Don't make too much of it or they may start doing it to get your attention.
• Introduce simple words for feelings and mental states into conversation like 'happy', 'sad', cross', 'hurt' and 'scared'. This helps children start to learn about words that express feelings and about what they are feeling themselves. You might say, for example, "You like playing in the sandpit, don't you? It makes you happy".
• If another child in the setting is hurt or upset, talk about how that child is feeling. Help other children to console them by stroking their arm or cuddling them.

Dressing:

• Encourage active involvement by expecting children to push their arm down a sleeve or take a leg out of trousers when asked. Give lots of encouragement and time to react. Keep trying each time you change their clothes or help them to undress.
• Talk about what you're going to do, demonstrate, and then ask children to do it for themselves.
• Dressing up in larger clothes can be fun and easier for children learning the movements needed. Old adult shirts can be particularly helpful as there is more room for manoeuvring.
• Hats are often the first item of clothing children can put on unaided.
• Move on to removing trousers – use loose, elasticated waists and start off by leaving only one leg on around the ankle, encouraging children to pull it off. Show them how to pull it off while sitting on the floor and later make it more difficult, leaving two legs of the trousers around two ankles.
• Show children how to open fasteners, Velcro and large buttons. Lots of toys incorporate fasteners of different kinds that provide opportunities to practise. Show children how to practise pulling up and closing zips on adult clothes used for dressing up (the zips are longer) and on toys.
• Practise taking off coats. As toilet training moves forward, encourage children to pull their trousers and pants up and down. Use elasticated waists or unfasten them first. Use simple verbal descriptions and instructions as well as demonstrating what needs to be done.

• Give children opportunities to express choice by offering them a range of games to play.
• At the end of the day, talk about the things you did together: "What was the best thing we did?".
• Provide many different opportunities for children to play and communicate with one another.
• Help children to begin to negotiate with one another using language. For example, if they want to join in a game or if another child has a toy that they want to play with, talk about what they could say. Model the language for them.
• In turn-taking games, help children to learn how to wait to take a turn, say "Ready? Wait, it's my turn first" and "Whose turn is it now?".
• As children play more often independently, encourage them to come and find you. This helps them to move and explore and lets them know that you're still available, even though you are out of physical contact or sight.
• Say "Hello" or "Hi" and "Goodbye" clearly and consistently when you arrive or leave and "Please" and "Thanks" to encourage the children in your setting to do the same.
• When children play together in the setting, remember that they can be possessive about their favourite toys. Make sure that there are plenty of 'neutral' toys to hand that can be shared.
• Understand that young children may want to be very independent sometimes, but will also be very clingy and need physical reassurance at times, particularly when tired, anxious or needing affection. Be available when children need emotional and physical support.
• Talk about the behaviour and intentions of adults and children in the setting so that children get more curious and interested and begin to understand what other people are doing.

Dressing:

• Practise taking off a large loose t-shirt or jumper. Start by removing arms so that clothing is around the children's necks. Place children's hands on the neckband and help them to pull it over their heads. Once this has been mastered, leave one arm in the sleeve and show them how to hold the edge of the sleeve while pulling the other arm out. Later, repeat this with the other arm.
• Guide arms into open-fronted coats and encourage children to do this independently. Do the same with pulling on socks. This is best demonstrated sitting on the floor with the child facing forwards between your legs.
• Encourage children to hang up their own coats on a coat rack at child height.

• At the start of the day, talk to the children about what you're going to do, the people they will see and the places they will visit. Remind them at the end of the day what they have done.
• As children's understanding of language increases, begin to tell them about everyday activities in advance. Do this about five minutes before you want them to change activity. Then, when you get to the time, say "Now, it really is time to stop playing. Let's go and have a story".
• Establish clear limits and boundaries and stay in control of routines. This gives children predictable routines and a better understanding of your expectations. If children refuse, follow activities which are disliked with activities that they like, as a reward.
• During everyday routines, ask children to tell you what happens next in a sequence of activities and what objects or toys you will need to get ready so that they can show you how much they know about the order of events.
• Be consistent about using and expecting attempts at saying "Please" and "Thank you" or "Ta".