Nursery World - Non-Verbal Communication

Practitioners must understand how two-year-olds communicate through behaviour, and the important part played by adult role-modelling, explains Charlotte Goddard

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Two-year-olds are one of the most exciting groups of children to work with, but can also be the most tiring. ‘Two-year-olds usually possess boundless energy and a huge drive to find out about the world through exploration and curiosity,’ says Kay Rooks, early years learning and teaching adviser at Focus on Learning.

‘They want to be independent and often their outbursts are due to the frustration of not being able to do something by themselves. They can get so immersed in their experiences they do not hear instructions, or even their name.’

COMMUNICATING THROUGH BEHAVIOUR

Challenging behaviour such as screaming, shouting, biting and throwing things, which is often associated with the ‘terrible twos’, can spring from a young child not being able to work out how to communicate their feelings in an acceptable way, or not knowing how to make a need met.

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