- Continue to provide children with a secure base for them to return to and to explore from by being available if needed.
- Offer a warm and consistent presence, spending time playing and being with children in 1:1 and small groups as well as in the whole group.
- Show that you keep children “in mind” by referring to things you have noticed in their play or something that reminded you of them in some way.
- Model key skills of empathy, negotiation, compromise and positive assertion when playing with children and in your everyday interactions.
- Provide positive feedback during play, noticing and acknowledging children’s thoughtfulness towards each other.
- Support young children’s efforts to join in with others’ play and invite others into their play.
- Act as mediator or coach, prompting children to recall and follow the rules of social communication appropriate for different contexts and types of interaction.
- Use different resources such as social stories and persona dolls to help children to develop strategies for building and maintaining relationships.
- Offer calm and considered support for children as they experience conflict with their peers. Use a problem-solving approach, eg You are fighting because you both want the blue bike, what can we do about this?
- Pause before intervening in children’s arguments to allow children time resolve issues if they can.
- Recognise and respect children’s particular friendships.
- Model how to listen and show respect to others by acting on reasonable requests.
- Support shy children or some with social and emotional difficulties who may be anxious when interacting with peers, eg encouraging one-to-one or smaller group encounters in a familiar, cosy space to help a child build confidence.
