The early years matter most. What children experience in these first stages shapes their health, happiness, learning and relationships for the rest of their lives.
By giving them rich, positive experiences now, we set them up to thrive at school, at home and in the wider world.
How children learn to interact
From the very beginning, babies start learning how to connect with others. At first, this happens without words through:
- eye contact
- facial expressions
- sounds
- simple turn taking
These early skills are the foundation for all communication and remain important throughout life.
Why play matters
Play is not just fun—it’s how children practise the skills they’ll need for talking and learning. Through play, children develop:
- concentration
- listening skills
- understanding of ideas like shape, colour and position
- symbolic thinking (a toy car can stand for a real car, just like words stand for objects and ideas)
Play also helps children build positive relationships and learn how to get along with others. Sharing, taking turns and cooperating in play prepare them for conversations and group activities as they grow.
Learning to talk
It does not matter how young your child is, having conversations with children helps them to:
- develop their conversation skills
- learn to take turns
- listen carefully
- stay on topic
- speak in ways that suit different situations
As they get older, they start to use language more flexibly. They ask questions, share opinions, solve problems, express feelings and understand when casual or formal language is most appropriate.
In Royal Greenwich, we have activities and support for families to support their children’s learning journey:
- Tiny Talk – An advice and information session for families with children 0 to 12 months. Parents can learn activities to develop infant communication, learn about communication at different stages of development and understand the importance of face-to-face interaction.
- Small Talk – Sessions for families with children aged 13 to 24 months to support parents to learn about ages and stages of communication development. This is through games and strategies to help develop a child’s speech, understanding, talking and social interaction. Parents can also get information around speaking more than one language, screen time, baby signing and more.
- Tots Talking – A 5 week training course to support parents or carers whose child needs extra help with their language. A Lead Practitioner trained by Speech and Language therapists will teach you how to use activities and give ideas on how to support your child’s communication.
- Speech and Language drop-ins – Parents can pop along to a Well Baby clinic on certain dates to get extra support from Oxleas Speech and Language Therapy Service