Being becoming and belonging

They have an urgent need to connect to other humans. They have no understanding of themselves and their emotions and needs and look for someone to guide them to develop their capacity for life. They are born into a 'family', community, and a 'culture'.

Establishing a bond and fostering a sense of belonging with infants and children is especially important when working in early years. But how do you, as an educator, develop a bond working in nursery and childcare? Interacting with children, being present and having positive engagement is key. Simple acts like smiling, singing, touching, and eye contact can also help.

Here are other more practical ideas you can use in your setting:

Places not spaces

Fill an empty space with an invitation to engage. Make it enticing. This excellent Triangular Mirror House will make it every baby's place to be!! Seeing themselves engaging will help develop concentration, focus and attention skills.

Peek-a-boo!

Gather bags, pouches or purses in black, white and red. Then, get a selection of black, white, and red items to hide inside the bags (for example, rolled-up socks, a hair scrunchie, a face cloth or a little car). Allow the little ones to see themselves and the adult exploring and experimenting with the items. Hide items under the bags, inside them or rolled up in some materials, cloths, or socks.

This activity takes the idea of 'peek-a-boo' to a new level. It allows children to become kinaesthetically involved as they listen and respond to the descriptive and expressive language shared by the adults.

Tickle time

The biggest organ in you and your child's body is your skin. It has lots of nerve endings, ready to take on information and process it. Tickling allows children to feel safe and secure and builds a sense of anticipation, curiosity and excitement. Some examples of how you can stimulate this positive reaction are:

1. Place some small Pom Pom Balls, Ribbons or Pom Poms inside Magic Tactile Bags and ask children to put their hands inside each of the bags to create different sensory experiences.

2. Use two Brightly Coloured Feathers to tickle the children with.

3. Use a Pastry Brush to touch the top of each finger, then the nose.

4. Use the toddler's favourite teddy or comforter to dance around the fingers without touching, then brush each finger gently the next time.

5. Using a long glove, sew some Ribbons onto the ends of the fingers and use them to 'act' out the movements.

These activities will help develop 'wait and response' through anticipation, encourage turn taking and highlight lively and calm times.

Bonding bags

Bonding describes the adult's relationship with the child. Do we, as practitioners, demonstrate the bond we have with our learners? Does every child know that you love them, care about them, and enjoy spending time with them? If children are disconnecting from a family member and reconnecting with us for a new day of play, how do we ensure it's an engaging, nurturing experience?

We do this by sharing nursery rhymes and poems with children as they join us each day. We use our 'bonding bags' where we choose a rhyme and a visual prompt for us to share as the child settles. Our Dino Romp bag may have miniature Dinos, for example, and then we would follow on by sitting with a child and singing or saying a related rhyme.

Here's one about dinosaurs:

"One little, two little, three little dinosaurs. One little, two little, three little dinosaurs. One little, two little, three little dinosaurs. Standing in a row."

(the last line changes each time and the child copies the actions suggested through the words.)

"Romping up and down"
"Swapping their wee tails"
"Lying down to sleep!"

These activities have been taken from Little Learners, a FREE magazine full of early years resources and activities. Click here to read our latest issue!