Toddlers

Personal Social and Emotional Development

We want the toddlers to start to establish that they are an individual, that they can make their own choices and begin to understand a range of emotions. We want them to develop their own personal identity and to gain a sense of their own cultures. We want them to start to talk about their feelings, and develop friendships with others. We want the toddlers to have a desire to be independent and want to dress themselves and feed themselves.	We will ensure that we react to their emotions in an appropriate manner. We will be mindful that the toddlers can swing their emotions very easily, and not understand what is happening. The children, along with their families will be encouraged to help nursery to celebrate their own cultural festivals and celebrations in order for them to have a sense of their identity. We will be open to what children say, and answer their questions straightforwardly. We will support the toddlers and help them to feel that they are all valued.	They will be encouraged to talk about their own emotions, and how they are feeling. The toddlers will have a visual to help them to understand their own emotions, they will be learning how to handle the feelings of being sad, happy, upset, etc. They will feel a sense of belonging by helping other children and staff to actively join in with their own culture.

Physical Development

We want the children to be able to develop their gross motor skills when walking up and down the stairs. We want them to become independent in using the stairs, we want them to understand how to use the stairs safely.	We will allow the children to walk up and down the stairs on a daily basis. We will encourage the use of the "Red Rail" the children's hand rail, and explain how we walk up and down the stairs safely. We will bring lots of language into our conversations when using the stairs, we will count stairs developing maths skills.	They will be able to safely use the stairs, understanding the impact of misuse can have. They will be developing gross motor skills and spacial awareness. They will understand the importance of turn taking when a group of children are using the stairs.
We want the toddlers to become confident on the outdoor aparatus. We want them to begin to balance using the balance bikes, and to climb up the climbing frame on to the slide. We want the children to be active outdoors to encourage then to become healthy and to engage in an active lifestyle. We want them to walk, jump, run and climb.	We will ensure that the outdoor area has the appropriate equipment for the toddlers, and we will encourage the use of the the equipment, demonstrating how to use it. We will take the children outside to play and to get fresh air and excercise daily.	They will become active and begin to have the ability to lead a healthy lifestyle at nursery. They will develop muscle control and begin to use their gross motor skills.
We want the toddlers to be able to feed themselves and learn how to use a knife and fork. We want them to to begin to make marks in the sand, on paper, with the playdough. We want the toddlers to be able to drink from an open top cup.	We will make sure we are encouraging the toddlers to use their knives and forks at meal times, we will demonstrate how these are used. We will offer several mark making activities throughout the week for the children to become involved in, we will offer a range of mark making tools to enhance these activities.	They will develop their fine motor skills, and self help skills through the daily use of malleable play, and using knives and forks at meals times. They will be developing fine motor skills and hand/eye co-ordination.

Communication and Language

We want the toddlers to be able to engage with others through their gestures, and their communication skills. We want the toddlers to become good communicators. We want the toddlers to listen to other peoples talk with interest, without becoming distracted by other things.	We will ensure that we will engage in conversation throughout the day in whole group situation in small group activities and in one to one conversations. We will ensure that we are using language that is appropriate to their individual development, but also in making sure that we are introducing new words throughout the day. We will help the toddlers to focus their attention by using their name.	They will begin to develop the use of single words in context, making progress into putting two words together to form a sentence. They will make mistakes in their vocabulary, these will be corrected using the correct word and/or tense.
We want the toddlers to listen to simple stories. We want the toddlers to be interested in the illustrations and listen to the words of the stories. We want the toddlers to be able to begin to understand what is happening in the story, and to be able to repeat some of it. We want the toddlers to become excited about books and reading and to be encouraged to begin to look at books independently.	We will make sure we have circle time in our every day timetable. We will encourage the toddlers to sit and listen during circle time using their communication skills and understanding the routine. We will make sure that we are repeating the stories over and over again, and give the toddlers time to interact with the illustrations. We will talk about our emotions and sing songs.	They will develop their listening skills, they will understand that we have a routine, and that we have to listen during certain times of the day. They will join in with story and song time and be able to recall the stories they have heard.