Introduce
Environments play a key role in supporting and extending children’s emotional and social development. When children feel emotionally safe and secure, they are able to play, explore and take risks. Enabling environments promote positive social interactions allowing children to build resilient relationships and feel valued, included and supported.
In the EYFS the environment is described in terms of three aspects: The emotional environment, the outdoor environment, the indoor environment.
Develop
The physical spaces, both indoor and outdoor, can help promote resilience by being calm, organised and predictable. This can result in children and families that feel safe and secure which will reflect in how they behave and interact. Environments that are chaotic and unpredictable may result in children feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
It is important for organisations such as nurseries, childminders and early years support services to think about what an enabling environment looks like for their setting. A positive emotional environment promotes emotional wellbeing and resilience as well as providing stability for children. Adults will respond to the needs of the babies and children by providing emotional support, understanding their feelings and showing empathy.
One example of this in Greater Manchester is through Think Equal (external website) which is a curriculum based programme that support social and emotional development in the early years. Here more about this approach in the video below:
It is clear that to create an enabling environment, professionals must consider not only the physical environment indoors and outdoors but also the emotional environment, recognising the significance of parent-practitioner relationships and how safe and at home the children feel within the setting.
Reflect
Apply Your Thinking: Reflect on what you have learnt about enabling environments and answer the following questions:
In what ways does your setting or service create environments of familiarity, belonging and connection for babies and young children?
How do you create an environment that caters to diverse needs, abilities and backgrounds?
Take some time to consider how you might continue to work towards building an emotionally secure environment for the families you work with. How might the environment support attachment, build resilience and promote positive mental health and wellbeing in infancy?