Early years learning resources

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework states the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to age five.

The EYFS framework:

sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well
ensures children are kept healthy and safe
ensures that children have the knowledge and skills they need to start school

The framework is for:

school leaders
school staff
childcare providers
childminders
out-of-school providers

It relates to:

local authority maintained schools
non-maintained schools (those not maintained by a local authority)
independent schools
academies and free schools
nurseries
private nursery schools
pre-schools and playgroups
childminding

Communication and language resources

The EYFS framework states the development of spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.

The number and quality of their conversations with adults and peers is crucial. Commenting on what children are interested in or doing will be effective in helping build their language.

Reading to children and getting them to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give them the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story telling and role play, children will use a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

Resource	Organisation	Description
EYFS communication and language activities	Famly	Playful ways to encourage speech and language development.
Tiny Happy People	BBC	Activities and play ideas to develop language skills.
Start for Life	NHS	Helping to give children the best start in life.
Better Health Start for Life playlist	National Literacy Trust	Tips and activities for families to complete at home.

Physical development resources

The EYFS framework states physical activity is vital for a child's all-round development. It enables them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives.

Gross and fine motor experiences develop through early childhood. These develop a child’s strength, co-ordination and awareness of their position. This is done through tummy time, crawling and play with both objects and adults.

By creating games and ways for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their:

core strength
stability
balance
spatial awareness
co-ordination
agility

Gross motor skills are the basis to develop healthy bodies and social and emotional wellbeing. Fine motor control helps with hand-eye co-ordination. This is later linked to early literacy. Children develop control and confidence through:

play with small world activities
puzzles
arts and crafts
the use of small tools

Resource	Organisation	Description
Core strength and co-ordination	GOV.UK	Learn about core strength and co-ordination as part of the EYFS. Includes advice from experts and activities.
Gross motor skills	GOV.UK	Learn about gross motor skills as part of the EYFS. Includes advice from experts and activities.
Fine motor skills	GOV.UK	Learn about fine motor skills as part of the EYFS. Includes advice from experts and activities.
Activity guidelines for early years	GOV.UK	Infographic showing the physical activity needed for general health benefits for children under 5.
UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines	GOV.UK	A report from the Chief Medical Officers in the UK. Covers the amount and type of physical activity people should do to improve their health.
Guidelines on physical activity for children under 5	WHO	Booklet around the WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age.
Better health, healthier families activities	NHS	Active hobbies and sports to get the family moving.
Road safety	Think!	Road safety teaching resources for children.

Personal, social and emotional development (PSED) resources

The EYFS framework states PSED is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives. Its fundamental to a child's cognitive development.

There are important attachments that shape a child's social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults help children to learn about their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to:

manage emotions
develop a positive sense of self
set themselves simple goals
have confidence in their own abilities
persist and wait for what they want
direct their attention as necessary

Through guidance from adults they'll learn how to look after their bodies. The includes healthy eating and being able to manage their own needs. With other children they'll learn how to make friends, co-operate and resolve conflicts. These will help them achieve at school and in their later life.

Resource	Organisation	Description
Healthy Start and Best Start Foods - a practical guide	First Steps Nutrition Trust	A digital guide to provide support to families to help them to get the most out of the Healthy Start scheme in England.
Vaccine boosters	NHS	Overview of the 4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine. This is offered to children from the age of 3 years and 4 months to boost their protection against four serious conditions. These are: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.
Sun safe nurseries	Skcin	National accreditation programme for nursery and pre-school settings. Free resources to help in the duty of care to safeguard children against UV and prevent skin cancer through education.
Accident prevention	Child Accident Prevention Trust	Information around child accident prevention.
Road safety resources	Brake	Help for schools and families to make a difference to road safety.
Screen time boundaries	Childnet	Advice about screen time and top tips.
How to wash your hands	NHS	YouTube video for the 'How to wash your hands' song.
Tiny Happy People	BBC	Help to develop a child's language skills. Simple activities and play ideas.
Menus for early years settings	GOV.UK	Example menus and useful guidance for early years settings to help meet the EYFS requirements for food and drink.
Healthy Start scheme	NHS	Help to buy food and milk.
Rose Vouchers for fruit and veg	Barnsley Council	The Rose Vouchers for fruit and veg project helps families on low incomes to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. This supports them to give their children a healthy start in life.
Eating well in the early years	First Steps Nutrition Trust	Advice about eating well in the first year.
Food facts	NHS	Advice around what’s really in the food your family eats.
Brush DJ	Brush DJ	App that makes brushing your teeth fun. Available on the App Store or Google Play.
Help Duggee brush his teeth	BBC	Tooth brushing song and a game for children to earn a tooth brushing badge.
Growing up with healthy teeth	Henry	Video which looks at what we can do to help our children grow up with healthy teeth.
Healthy teeth guides	British Society of Paediatric Dentistry	Videos to inspire children to look after their teeth.
Healthy Child Programme (HCP)	elfh	Online learning for those working with pregnant mothers and children aged 0 to 5 years.
Food activities for 3 to 5 year olds	Food - a fact of life	Activity ideas and resources to support teaching young children about food.
Eating well for 1 to 4 year olds	First Steps Nutrition Trust	Poster showing seven easy steps to eating well.
See and eat - vegetables and support for early years	Food - a fact of life	Presentation for early years about vegetables.
Feeding young children aged 1 to 5 years	GOV.UK	Report about feeding young children aged 1 to 5 years old.

Oral health resources

Resource	Organisation	Description
The children's toothbrushing guide	Oral Health Foundation and others	A guide on how to brush children's teeth and support good oral health was created collaboratively by a number of organisations.
Oral health guide	Barnsley Council	Guide to promoting lifelong good habits and useful resources.
Kind to Teeth posters	Barnsley Council	Kind to Teeth campaign posters to print off and display. For further information on Kind to Teeth or to request images for social media or Kind to Teeth training please email oralhealth@barnsley.gov.uk
Barnsley supervised toothbrushing club toolkit 2025	Barnsley Council	Guide on how to help with supervised toothbrushing.
Dental health lesson materials for early years and SEND	PHSE association	Dental health lesson materials for EYFS and SEND. Lesson plans are free but require registration to access them.
Educational videos about visiting the dentist	SUDSS Smile Squad	Video resources from a team of dental students at the University of Sheffield including how to brush teeth and what to expect when you go to the dentist.

Further resources

Resource	Organisation	Description
Better health, healthier families	NHS	Easy ways to eat well and move more.
Health for under 5s	Health for under 5s	Advice around health for children under 5 years old.
Infant feeding	Barnsley Council	Information around the Barnsley breastfeeding welcome scheme and how to join.
Early years policy guidance	Barnsley Council	This is the supplementary guidance to the early years setting: Food, drink, oral health and physical activity policy
Early years policy guide	Barnsley Council	Early years setting - Food, drink, oral health and physical activity policy (guidance for policy development)