This webpage has been developed as a tool to support practitioners concerned about supporting children’s behaviours.
Supporting inclusion and positive behaviours within settings is important in creating an environment where all children can develop and practice the skills and attitudes they need to be engaged and successful learners. It is important that practitioners recognise that children are learning valued behaviours much like they are learning other skills such as riding a bike and that they may not always get it right the first time.
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework describes ‘positive behaviour’ as consisting of:
- Emotional Intelligence: Managing feelings and behaviour (self-regulation), being able to express your emotions effectively, and being empathic towards others.
- Social Skills: Being able to form positive, respectful relationships.
- Cognitive Skills: Having self-confidence, self-awareness, and the ability to understand different feelings.
These essential skills are developed through play, interaction, and discussion. Practitioners play a key role in facilitating these opportunities for learning and development.
Some broad strategies that you can use to help children develop the ability to behave positively include:
Ensuring that each child has a trusting relationship with a key person – Positive relationships are key for emotional development.
This can be supported in many ways by:
- Ensuring the key person is available and spends time with the child during the settling-in process.
- Ensuring that care routines are used as opportunities for the key person to spend time with the child, that is – intimate care routines and meal times.
- Regularly and effectively communicating with the family on the wellbeing, interests and development of the child.
- Observing the child’s interests and play, and planning for opportunities and experiences ensure that the key person can spend time interacting with the child.
- Creating resources together such as family photo books.
Recognising the child’s feelings, acknowledging them and naming them
To aid children’s emotional intelligence. For example, you could say “I understand it’s hard for you to stop playing on the bike, but it’s someone else’s turn now.” This does three things.
- Aids the development of empathy.
- Helps children to understand how they are feeling what they are feeling and the relationship between feelings and behaviours – spotting where emotions come from can help children develop self-awareness.
- Triggers a soothing biochemical reaction. When a child feels understood, their neural pathway linked to emotional intelligence grows, and in time, children will learn to soothe themselves by accepting their emotions.
Making use of activities, structured and explorative play, and games that encourage curiosity
This develops children’s reasoning and problem-solving, that is cognitive skills. They learn best by playing, listening, watching, asking questions, and doing, so set this in motion. For example, try setting them a challenge, such as building a bridge or tower.
Using structured group play to encourage positive and respectful relationships
That is social development. For example, you could play games where children learn to share, such as circle games or board games where they have to take turns to roll a dice.
Other methods of developing emotional intelligence include accepting and listening to expressions of emotion, rather than shushing them, telling them to stop crying, or scolding them. Everyone should be allowed to express how they are feeling and know that it is valid. You might think that children often overreact, but this is because their brains are developing so quickly that they can be easily overwhelmed with emotion. In other words, this is natural and should be accepted and accounted for in your setting.
