The Burrow is such a lovely room in the way of relationships as the children are at the right age to start building friendships and understanding those around them.
One thing we notice often in the Burrow is the question “Do they have friends” “Do they play with other children?’ As practitioners we understand that having friends is a big part of growing up and also it’s reassuring as parent that your child is developing the ability to socialise successfully with those around them.
Here in the Burrow we refer back to the EYFS which states that children MAY form a special friendship at 22-36 months. This means that it’s not expected that all children will have a friendship with another peer just yet. It’s more when the children hit 30-50 months that it’s more likely a child will have a special friendship or demonstrate friendly behaviour. Before a child makes a friendship they need to explore the world by themselves, this is to set boundaries and watch how other children act or behave before starting the socialisation process. This is often why children like the same things in friendships.
It’s great to see friendships blossom and to know that we have been a big part of that friendship. Currently in the Burrow we have a huge friendship group of around 8 children who will all play with each other, not at the same time but throughout the day will explore an activity with them. Of course, like many friendships even though, we still have to deal with arguments or fall outs. Luckily the arguments are normally over a toy, or maybe a child telling their friend that they aren’t friends any more. Fear not the world will not end if your friend has told you this, it’s normally simply because two year olds often don’t understand that they can have more than one friend. Also we are all human so a little like adults sometimes we can get a little annoyed by normal things that happen every day.
Of course the children will also refer to their adults as their friend. Don’t tell the other practitioners in the room but the children really do love me more ;-) We pride ourselves on having great relationships and bonds with the children. As you may know alongside seeing their family some children will see us practitioners a lot throughout the week. When people ask me if it’s hard work working with children, of course it is but the reason I get up every morning is to see those little faces shout ‘LAUREN’ as I walk into nursery. They feel so much pride and love we are so lucky to count every one of them as our friend.
Thanks for reading,
Lauren