Hungry Little Minds - supporting communication in early years
Improving early communication, language and literacy development is a key priority for the government - children with poor vocabulary skills at age five may be up to twice as likely to be unemployed in their 30s.
In July 2018, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the government’s ambition to halve in ten years the proportion of children who finish reception year without the communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. As part of this aim, DfE has launched Hungry Little Minds – a new three-year campaign to encourage parents and carers to engage in activities that support their child’s early learning and help set them up for school and beyond.
A child’s development begins the moment they are born. Simple activities at home or out and about really help set them up nicely for school. Children soak up every little bit of stimulation you give them. All the little things make a big difference to the development of their speech and understanding of words. Everyday moments can be used to boost your child’s learning, as they are interested in all sorts of things.
The Hungry Little Minds campaign provides lots of simple tips and activities that you can slot into your routine and that children love.
Such as:
• Play ‘I spy’ on the bus with them and you can see their imaginations light up
• Talk to your child about what has happened so far in the day – for example, “We went to the shops this morning, didn’t we? We bought some apples.” And talk about what is going to happen next – “After lunch we’ll do the washing up”
• Look at picture books together. With each new page, give your child time to point out things to you and talk about what they can see. Search Hungry Little Minds for simple tips and activities, or to find out what’s available where you live and help set them up nicely for school.
If you are interested in finding out more, or you would like to be involved, please get in touch with us at hle.coalition@education.gov.uk.
If you are interested in finding out more visit https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk
https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/