Developing Independence in the Early Years

The first few years of a child’s life are always special, with new experiences and interests being discovered every day. It’s natural to want to spend as much time coddling our little stars as we can, but it’s also important that the best nurseries in Exeter teach them how to become their own people.

At Devon Nurseries, our practitioners take special care to create safe spaces where every child is free to explore and become a confident individual. Here are some of the reasons this is a crucial part of early years development, alongside some tips to help you encourage independence at home.

The Importance of Developing Independence in EYFS

As humans, we all have an instinctive desire to belong, whether that be as part of a family, class or social group. For this to happen, we need to have a sense of who we are. The work to develop this identity starts during the early years.

Beyond independence and a sense of self being crucial throughout our lives, there are more immediate benefits to introducing more independence into early years settings.

Learn to Manage Emotions

Developing emotional intelligence is a key part of early years education. By giving young children the space and responsibility to explore their interests, skills and knowledge, they will begin to understand how they react in certain situations and develop more positive approaches to understanding their feelings.

Developing emotional intelligence relies on creating a safe space for young ones to express themselves and learn to read others’ expressions. By developing a sense of independence, children are more likely to take ownership of their feelings, meaning they’re more likely to understand when to ask for things they want and when to be patient based on others around them.

Grow Self-Confidence

Independence is at the core of self-confidence. Helping children to develop a sense of self through activities and ownership of their feelings helps to develop that sense of self in the world, which helps encourage more interactions with others.

The first few steps into independence for children are filled with trial-and-error situations. While these can cause frustration at first, they eventually lead to problem-solving and overcoming obstacles. Each little success – whether it’s figuring out a puzzle or asking for a specific snack – helps foster that sense of individuality and ability to care for oneself, which helps confidence flourish.

Improved Learning & Development

Problem-solving is a crucial part of children finding their own voice. Stepping up and overcoming all these challenges not only improves a child’s emotional control and self-confidence, it’s also great for their wider learning and development.

Everything from fine motor skills to cognitive development benefits from a young child feeling more confident in their independence, which makes it a crucial part of their early years.

Tips for Developing Independence in Young Children

At Devon Nurseries, all of our professional staff are trained in techniques to help young children become independent problem solvers in a safe, positive environment. However, there’s plenty of stuff you can also do at home to promote this sense of self.

Encourage Through Play

Play is such a powerful tool in early years education, and there are many games for young children that help them to explore their uniqueness.

To encourage independence, look for games that:

• Explore their lives and interests
• Require problem-solving
• Encourage patience

For babies, something like peek-a-boo teaches them about taking turns and waiting patiently. For other young children, things such as making a treasure box and filling it with what matters to them is a way to understand their interests.

Respect Their Voice

One of the simplest and best things anyone can do to help a young child develop their independence is listen. That might sound straightforward, but really listening takes a conscious effort.

The more a young child feels like their voice matters, the more confident they’ll be at asking for things and becoming that independent person. That doesn’t mean giving them everything they want; it can simply mean asking what games they’d like to play, whether they would like a snack or asking permission before doing things like changing nappies.

Give Them Space to Develop Ideas

As mentioned above, problem-solving and learning to take ownership are key steps towards developing independence, so it’s important we give them a safe space in which to experience these things for themselves.

It’s natural to want to rush to your child’s aid if you find them frustrated or uncomfortable for whatever reason. However, where possible, it’s good to step back occasionally and, instead of trying to fix something, give them clues as to how they might fix it for themselves. Even better, stepping back completely and giving children space to overcome problems for themselves can be extremely beneficial to their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Like everything else, independence will develop faster in some children than others. By making sure we create safe, loving spaces for children to explore and discover new things about themselves, we can help encourage everyone to become more confident in themselves and, by extension, more connected to the world around them.