Talking with Early Years children in the home is essential as it lays the fundamental building blocks for their development. From an early age, children begin to absorb and understand language, which forms the foundation for their communication skills. Engaging in back-and-forth conversations helps young children develop vocabulary, sentence structure and the ability to express themselves clearly through spoken language.

In January 2025, the UK Government stressed the importance of early language and the home learning environment (HLE), by announcing an additional £126 million of funding as part of the Plan for Change to give every child “the best start in life”.

“All children should be starting primary school ready to learn. By positively shaping the most influential part of a baby or child’s environment – through support for strong parent-infant relationships, nurturing home experiences and ensuring early access to services – we can set every child up for success.”

Early Excellence has been promoting the importance of spoken language in EYFS since our inception. The range of Going Home Discovery Bags have been carefully developed, by our curriculum team, to enrich children’s language and imaginative skills whilst strengthening relationships with their caregiver through meaningful interactions. Each Going Home Discovery Bag contains books and associated resources that provide rich curriculum and social outcomes such as:

• Supporting the acquisition of vocabulary and language structures through oral storytelling
• Developing skills around conversation and turn-taking
• Offering role play opportunities to develop oracy and both receptive and expressive language development
• Supporting PSED as a Prime Area of Development through strengthening relationships and bonding
• Supporting parental involvement
• Developing number sense and mathematical thinking
• Supporting language development for children with EAL (English as an Additional Language).

Why is Talking with Early Years Children Important?

Talking with early years children is vital as it:

• Builds strong foundations for development – Language is essential for cognitive, social, and emotional growth.
• Supports academic success – Good speech, language and communication skills at a young age have the highest correlation with outcomes in school at the end of KS1 and beyond.
• Enables access to the curriculum resources – Without good language skills, children may struggle to understand resources, follow instructions and express their ideas.
• Enhances emotional development – Being able to communicate helps children express their feelings, manage emotions and develop self-regulation skills.
• Helps with forming friendships – Communication is key to building relationships and language difficulties can make social interactions challenging.
• Improves long-term life chances – Persistent speech, language, and communication difficulties can impact education, employment and overall well-being in later life.

Why is Spoken Language Fundamental for Early Years Children?

The image below shows how spoken language is the underpinning foundation of all other literacy learning; spoken language comes before anything else and therefore should be prioritised before the specific teaching of literacy begins. It’s no surprise, then, that Communication and Language is a Prime Area of Learning in the EYFS, emphasising the importance of developing this area early on in a child’s life.

Spoken language is developed through conversation, connection, storytelling and play so encouraging communication and language learning with young children at home is crucial. Well curated resources, such as Going Home Discovery Bags, support this early childhood development through fun and engaging activities for children to enjoy with their families at home.

The other fundamentals, shown under the surface of the water, are also aspects of learning that the Going Home Discovery Bags support. Meta-linguistic awareness and symbolic thinking are supported by role playing, storytelling, discussing new vocabulary and recognising language patterns. Functions of form and print help build a foundation for literacy by teaching children how print works and how they can engage with it through exposure to books and print, encouraging children to ‘read’ pictures and interpret meaning.

By talking, reading, singing, and playing with children from infancy, parents and carers build the submerged foundation of the iceberg, ensuring that their child is ready to succeed in later life and learning.

Why is Encouraging Talk in the Home Environment Crucial for Early Years?

Engaging in communication and language learning with young children at home is crucial because early language and cognitive development have a profound impact on children’s long-term success.

• Early Language Development Predicts Future Success –At just 22 months, a child’s language abilities can predict their outcomes at age 26. This means that the more parents and carers talk, read, and engage with their children, the stronger their language foundation will be, setting them up for better outcomes in later life.
• Brain Growth Happens Rapidly in the First Few Years – By 2 years old, 75% of brain growth has already occurred. The early years are a critical period for learning, as the brain is forming connections based on experiences. Parents and carers who talk, sing, role play and read with their children stimulate these connections, supporting cognitive development.
• Narrative Skills Strengthen Literacy Development -Between ages 3-6, a child’s ability to tell stories and understand narratives predicts their literacy skills at 8-12 years. Reading books together, discussing stories, orally storytelling and encouraging children to express their thoughts help build these important narrative skills.
• Vocabulary at Age 5 Predicts Long-Term Success – By 5 years old, a child’s vocabulary is a strong predictor of their educational achievement and outcomes at age 30. The number of words a child hears and learns at home significantly impacts their ability to learn in school, so regular conversations and in-home reading sessions are essential.

The Going Home Discovery Bags encourage parents and caregivers’ involvement in their children’s learning and development, strengthening engagement and relationships with caregivers. Each bag includes age-relevant books and high-quality Early Years resources for children to enjoy with their caregiver at home

How Can Parents Help with Language Development?

Since early brain and language development lays the foundation for lifelong learning, parents and carers play a crucial role in giving their children the best start. Engaging in communication and language activities at home is one of the simplest yet most powerful ways in which parents can ensure a child’s future educational and social success.  Here are some simple steps to help language development.

• Share in Stories Daily – Even just 10-15 minutes a day can expand vocabulary and comprehension.
• Talk and Ask Questions – Encourage conversations, describe surroundings and ask open-ended questions.
• Sing and Play with Words – Songs, rhymes, and word games make language learning fun.
• Encourage Storytelling – Let children create their own stories or describe their day to enhance narrative skills.
• Limit Screen Time – More face-to-face interactions build stronger language skills than passive screen exposure.

Investing in Going Home Discovery Bags helps support early childhood development through fun and engaging activities for children to enjoy with their families at home. The bags will enrich children’s language and imaginative skills whilst strengthening relationships with their caregiver through meaningful interactions.

“A good talker needs…
– Somewhere to talk
– Something exciting to talk about
– Some words to use
– Someone to talk to who is interested in what we have to say”
Michael Jones, 2012

Can Going Home Bags Support Children with SEND or EAL?

The goal of Going Home Discovery Bags is to create a storytelling experience that feels accessible, engaging, and pressure-free. Most of all, they support caregivers to spend time and give space to connect with their child’s learning and experience connection and enjoyment together.

Here are some of our top tips for using our Going Home Discovery Bags in the home learning environment:

• Don’t be afraid of role playing! Role play and oral storytelling gives meaning to language for young children, and it allows them to hear vocabulary being used in context. Both receptive and expressive language can be practised and explored in a playful context too.
• For children with SEND or EAL, acting out parts of the story or using gestures or picture prompts can help children to connect with the story in a non-verbal way.
• As well as books, each bag contains age-appropriate resources. Use the provided puppets or real objects, such as small world characters, to help children to engage with the story without needing to rely solely on understanding the words in the story.
• For children with EAL, telling oral stories in children’s home languages or telling traditional tales from their culture can also support children’s understanding of language patterns and develop their knowledge of how to retrieve or infer information from a story. This will build children’s confidence around stories and storytelling, which can later be transferred to reading in English when they are ready and able.
• Choose books that have repeated words, refrains or rhymes to allow children to anticipate and join in easily, developing confidence in storytelling. These Going Home Discovery Bags are all great examples of repetition and rhyme:
  • The Tiger Who Came to Tea
  • Three Little Pigs
  • Guess How Much I Love You
  • That’s Not My Lion…
  • Oh Dear!
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • One to Ten and Back Again
• Personalise the story experience for children by engaging in their interests through choice of book, or by making the child the main character, or incorporating their favourite cuddly toy.

Going Home Discovery Bags in Action

Feedback from settings highlights just how impactful Going Home Discovery Bags can be in inspiring imagination and strengthening learning connections beyond the classroom. Here’s what Lizzy Battersby, Deputy Headteacher at Rawmarsh Nursery School, has to say:

“The Going Home Bags are an ‘imagination innovation’ and provide children with the spark to fuel their imaginations. The children were very focused when exploring the fantastic open-ended resources in the bags. These bags are very versatile and perfect for use in the classroom as part of planned teaching, home-school learning packs or for breakfast clubs and pack-a-way settings.  We will definitely invest in more!”

Lizzy Battersby, Deputy Headteacher, Rawmarsh Nursery School

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