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.
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.
Commissioned by Greater Manchester Combined Authority and delivered by social enterprise Unlimited Potential, the Speaking Dadly project explored how dads can best be supported and encouraged to help their child develop their speech, language and communication skills from an early age.
Working with a father’s group in Salford, the project found that much of Greater Manchester’s early years support is focussed around the needs of the mother, which is impacting on dads participating with early years services and activities currently on offer.
Greater Manchester is now working with dads to shape early years services that recognise the positive role of the father in a child’s development. This includes creating more personalised support, more male-friendly groups, investment in health, wellbeing, and skills, and training for staff working across services for children and families.
As part of this, a short animation has been produced to help address some of the issues and encourage dads to talk to and communicate with their child from birth.
The film identifies a range of ideas to incorporate language and communication into everyday activities which we know is one of the best ways of supporting the communication development of young children.
Voiced by local children, the animation encourages dads to tell stories to their children, chat to them when walking the dog or going to the park, and sing, talk and pull funny faces at their babies.
You can view the animation below.