Useful Resources
BBC Tiny Happy People (External Website)
Tiny Happy People is the BBC's dedicated website for parents of children aged 0-4. Tiny Happy People aims to help parents understand the role they play in their child's development and build their confidence in talking and interacting with their children from birth to preschool.
Click on the link above, to view resources, activities and games to support your child's development.
Hungry Little Minds (DFE) (External website)
Information for parents on playtime activities that are important for children’s emotional and physical development. Activity ideas that parents and children can do together.
Speech, Language and Communication
Balanced System (External website)
We know that up to 34% of our children and young people in Greater Manchester have some degree of speech ,language and communication needs
The Balanced System approach is a way of delivering wrap- around support for children and young people who have speech,language and communication needs. It is a team effort with speech and language being everyone’s business. It involves close working with families and all the professionals who come into contact with children and young people. This means that staff who work in health, education and social care come together to provide the speech and language support that children and young people need in order to thrive in their everyday lives. The Balanced System focuses on prevention, early identification and easy access to support giving children young people and their families confidence that their speech and language abilities are not a barrier to other aspects of their lives such as making friends, learning, and joining in.
The Balanced System provides support at three levels, for all children, for some children and those with the highest level of need. It recognises that children and young people with speech, language and communication needs may need different levels of support from different people at different times of their lives so the system is flexible and recognises everyone’s contribution. It is also driven by focusing on outcomes i.e. what is the impact that support has achieved. This is a very different approach to how support is currently offered and each of the 10 GM local authority areas will be moving to implementing this model between 2025- end of 2026
Physical Development
GM Moving: Moving for children (External Website)
It's important for all children, from birth to eighteen, to keep moving to help with their physical development, wellbeing and mental health. GM Moving have pulled together a number of different resources that are freely available online to help you and your children keep moving.
Early Movers (External Website)
Helping under-5's live active and healthy lives sharing practical ideas for physical activities to help with babies and young children's physical development.
Parents Guides to EYFS
Parents Guide to the EYFS Framework (External Website)
Childminding UK has developed a document targeted at parents and carers to outline what the EYFS framework is and why we have one.
What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a guide for parents (External Website)
This guide is for parents/carers of children from birth to five years old. It will help you find out more about your child’s learning and development in the EYFS.
Involving Dads
Dad Matters Greater Manchester, exists to support dads to have the best possible relationship with their families. They work closely with other professionals within Greater Manchester and nationally to better support dads in the first 1001 days of their parenting journey.
They offer Outreach services/drop-ins at maternity centres, and community venues, Provide 1:1 peer support to dads, Signpost and support dads to access services and information to help make sense of being a dad and supporting dads with anxiety, stress and mental health awareness
Unlimited Potential: Speaking Dadly (External Website)
A short animation has been produced to encourage dads to talk to and communicate with their child from birth. The film identifies a range of ideas to build language and communication into everyday activities which we know is one of the best ways of supporting the communication development of young children.
You can view the animation below.
Social Emotional Development and Wellbeing
Learning Resource: Look, Sing, Play (External Website)
Learning Resource - Resources for parents circle of security (External Website)