When things change or don’t go to plan, as in our current situation, young children can often feel confused, worried, scared or unsure. It is important to discuss issues with children when they are young to ensure that they can have the best chance of understanding a situation, what will or may happen and how to deal with it.
We know that families know best how to support individual children but thought that we would share some top tips, based on advice from the National Day Nurseries Association’s Early Years Advisers, for supporting these difficult conversations with your children to help ease any worry or stress.
• Be open and honest in terms your child will understand.
• Use stories available online or make up your own about difficult things. Include puppets and props where appropriate.
• Give children opportunities to ask question and offer them lots of reassurance.
• Use play and role modelling to help understanding and provide reassurance.
We hope that this may help some of our families.
