What Children Really Need in the Early Years of Parenting
(Hint: It’s Not Flashcards!)
There’s a quiet pressure in the early years of parenting - a sense that you should be “teaching” your child every moment of the day.
Flashcards. Baby signing. Counting on the stairs.
Even play can start to feel like a performance review:
Is this helping? Are they learning enough? Should I be doing more?
But here’s the truth: young children don’t need a mini curriculum.
They need connection. Comfort. Encouragement to be curious.
They need to feel seen, safe, and loved - exactly as they are.
The early years aren’t about performance.
They’re about laying the foundations for how your child sees themselves, the world, and their place in it.
And those foundations?
They’re not built on pressure or performance. Or doing more.
They come from the everyday little things - chatting, cuddles, laughter, and genuine child-led play.
The Power of Play in Early Childhood Development
Play isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
From peekaboo to pretend cafés and dinosaur roars, play is how young children learn. It’s their language. Their lab. Their safe place to test ideas, explore emotions, and build the mental muscles they’ll need for life.
When we undervalue play, we’re not just skipping the fun - we’re skipping the foundation.
Why Play-Based Learning Builds Strong Foundations
Brain Development
Play fuels brain architecture in the early years.
Neuroscience shows that playful experiences help form the neural connections needed for thinking, learning, and self-regulation.
Every time a child builds a tower, creates a story with toys, or explores a new texture, they’re strengthening brain pathways linked to problem-solving, creativity, memory, and emotional control.
It’s not just fun - it’s essential wiring work.
Language and Communication
From babbling to storytelling, play is how children practise the rhythm and rules of conversation.
When they narrate pretend adventures, give voices to toys, or copy what they’ve heard you say, they’re building vocabulary, sentence structure, and the confidence to express themselves.
Play creates natural opportunities for language to flourish.
Physical Development
Rolling, climbing, running, crawling - these playful movements help develop gross and fine motor skills, balance, coordination, and spatial awareness.
Whether they’re mastering a scooter or stacking blocks, children are learning how to move through the world and trust their bodies.
Physical play lays the groundwork for everything from writing to sitting still to feeling strong in their own skin.
Executive Function Skills
Ever watched your child take turns, stick with a tricky puzzle, or suddenly switch gears mid-game when someone changes the rules? That’s executive function in action.
These are the behind-the-scenes brain skills that help little ones:
Stay focused (even when they’d rather be doing something else!)
Remember instructions (like “shoes first, then coat”)
Switch between tasks or ideas (like going from building towers to cleaning them up - easier said than done!)
Manage big emotions (without throwing the blocks across the room!)
They’re the quiet superpowers behind resilience, self-control, and all the things that help children thrive at nursery, school, and in everyday life.
You won’t always see these skills developing but every game of pretend, every moment of frustration, and every “let’s try again” is helping to build them.
Emotional Intelligence
Play helps children process big feelings in a safe way.
When they act out different emotions, offer care to dolls or teddies, or play “angry” or “scared,” they’re practising emotional awareness and empathy. They learn to name feelings, recognise them in others, and try out ways to respond.
These are the roots of emotional resilience and meaningful relationships.
Why Play Is Often Undervalued in the Early Years
It’s messy. Unstructured. Hard to measure.
We’re told learning should look like quiet worksheets - not cardboard box castles.
And there’s constant pressure to “prepare” children for school before they’ve even finished toddling.
But play is learning.
And when you lean into it - without a hidden agenda - you’re giving your child something more powerful than any phonics app could ever offer.
What Young Children Really Need to Learn and Thrive
That’s exactly what I’ll be diving into in my upcoming free masterclass.
We’ll explore:
What truly supports early child development (no flashcards in sight)
Why connection and curiosity matter more than milestones
The real building blocks of listening, emotional regulation, and resilience
How to support your child and yourself - without adding more pressure
Warning: May Cause Feeling of Being Wildly Supported
Ready for grounded parenting support that’s gentle, real, and actually works in the thick of it?
The Raising Wild Ones Club is now open - with just 20 founding member places available.
This is your space to feel seen, supported, and reminded you’re already enough during those early years - especially on the hard days.
No pressure. No perfection. Just support that meets you where you are.
Founding members get lifetime access to the best rate it will ever be.
Discover more here and nab one of those spots!
Looking for More Support With the Early Years?
If you’re deep in the trenches and need a moment of reassurance (and maybe a laugh), this post on surviving the early years with your sanity intact might be just what you need!
And if the pressure to be a “good parent” is wearing you down, this blog about letting go of that myth might help take some of the weight off.
