Early Years advice sheets

Introduction

All children develop differently. There are some common problems that can be improved with some practical advice. This collection of advice sheets has been produced by the Children and Young People’s Therapy Service for Children and Young People in Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. They can be used by early years settings, parents and carers.

You can also ring the telephone advice line to speak to a therapist on 0303 033 3002

This number is open between 9am to midday, Monday to Thursday (except bank holidays).

You can also find a collection of school age advice sheets here.

Early development

Helping a baby developing rolling and sitting

Babies learn to roll to grasp for toys that are outside of their reach and to explore their environment.

Helping a baby develop standing and stepping

Your child can be held supported in a standing position from an early age.

Talipes or club foot

Talipes or club foot is when a newborn baby’s foot or feet turn inwards and point downwards.

Toddler Development skills

Crossing the Midline of the Body

We all have an imaginary midline running down the centre of our bodies and in order for us to effectively coordinate the two sides of our body together, we need to be able to cross that imaginary midline.

Developing Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are needed to complete activities such as writing, cutting with scissors, dressing, brushing teeth and hair, feeding and playing.

Developing hand skills

These are the skills needed to complete activities like feeding, dressing, playing or drawing.

Dressing Skills - Early Years

Some children find dressing difficult due to movement or learning difficulties.

Dressing Skills - Socks and Shoes

Children often have difficulty putting socks on correctly and end up with the heel on the top of their foot.

Dressing Skills - Tops and Trousers

This Advice Sheet deals with taking clothes on and off. There is a separate Advice Sheet for shoes, socks and fasteners.

Fasteners

A child may have difficulties doing up buttons and zips for a variety of reasons such as poor bilateral coordination, postural instability, poor fine motor manipulation, reduced muscle tone, or visual perceptual difficulties.

Helping a child develop their balance

Balance allows children to have better control over their bodies.

Sleep

Sufficient quantity and quality of sleep is essential for lots of processes including memory consolidation, physical growth and repair as well as helping children to regulate their emotions and behaviours.

Touch processing difficulties - oversensitive or tactile defensiveness

Children who have tactile defensiveness are sensitive to touch sensations and can be easily overwhelmed by, and fearful of, ordinary daily experiences and activities.

Touch processing difficulties - under sensitive or tactile discrimination

Sensory discrimination is the ability to correctly register (or recognise) sensory input on a neurological level in order to use it functionally.

Play

Developing Play

The development of a child’s play skills are closely linked to the development of their cognitive, language and social skills.

Learning to Ride a Tricycle

Balance and the ability to co-ordinate both sides of the body at the same time can make it difficult for some children to ride a tricycle.

Messy Play

Tolerating being messy in play is an important area of development and difficulty with this can lead to problems with eating, art and craft, even going to the beach and playing on the sand.

Rough and Tumble Play

Children may dislike this kind of play due to movement or sensory problems, lack of experience or because they have been sick a lot as babies.

Screen Time

As technology continues to progress, children have more and more access to different screens such as televisions, tablets, phones and computers at home and in their preschools and schools.

Feeding

Developing cutlery skills

There are many reasons why children find using cutlery difficult, including movement or learning difficulties.

Coping with Lumps

Why some children find coping with lumps difficult

Finger Feeding

Your child may be finding if hard to move on to finger foods because they have some movement or sensory difficulties.

Trying new foods

All typically developing children are suspicious of trying new foods between the ages of 2 and 5.

Communication and speech

Basic communication strategies

Everyone involved in a child’s life can help them to develop communication by following these basic strategies.

Beginning to Join Words

Children learn language best from the people around them talking about the things that are happening to them and that they are interested in.

Bilingualism

A bilingual child is one who acquires communicative skills in more than one language regardless of the relative proficiency in any of the languages understood and used (SLT, 2006).

Expanding words and sentences

Pre-school settings such as toddler groups, playgroup and nursery help your child to learn how to play with other children and how to talk and listen to others.

Expressive Language

Expressive language is the way we put words together into phrases and sentences to express meaning.

Pre Writing Activities

For a child to be able to write and form letters properly in the future, they need initially to learn how to copy and form simple shapes.

Sensory System Proprioception

Just as our eyes and ears send information about what we see and hear to the brain, parts of our muscles and joints sense the position of our body and send these messages to the brain as well.

Sounds to First Words

Babies start to learn about language, speaking and communication as soon as they are born.

Speech Sound Development

The clarity of children’s speech gradually improves over time.

Stammering

Learning to talk, like learning to walk, is a skill which develops gradually.