Home Learning Environment (HLE)

The learning environment begins at home — with you, your baby, and your family. Every parent is their child’s first educator, and it doesn’t take a teaching degree or expensive resources to make a difference. What matters most is your time, imagination, and plenty of fun together.

As parents and carers, you are your child’s very first and most important teachers. You shape their world from the very beginning and have the greatest influence on who they become, especially in those crucial early years.

What do we mean by ‘Home Learning environment’?

What happens at home plays a powerful role in your child’s social, emotional, and intellectual growth. Simple, meaningful activities — things that spark curiosity, conversation, and play — help stretch their thinking, build their confidence, and strengthen their brains. Everyday moments, from cooking and tidying to singing and reading, all contribute to your child’s development and prepare them for a smooth and confident start at school.

Evidence shows that the below activities have the biggest impact on your child’s learning:

Reading with and to children, and going to the library
Singing songs and rhymes
Going out and about on visits
Drawing and painting
Playing with friends
Playing with letters and numbers

The following activities are important too:

Listening, talking and thinking – using a family’s strongest language(s) from birth
Doing real things together, for example: cooking, gardening, helping with the shopping
Letting the children have a go for themselves
Imagining and pretending

Building Babies Brains Through Play

Play is Critical to Early Development. For babies and toddlers, simple, playful interactions with adults help develop sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience

Chat

Every chat you have with your child helps them grow — boosting their social skills, confidence, and imagination. Children’s brains are like little sponges, soaking up everything around them. They love it when you talk, play, and read together — and these everyday moments give them the best start for school and beyond.

Helpful resources:

Tiny Happy People – Tips and advice for children’s speech and language

Little Moments Together Cards | Words for Life

Play

Playing isn’t just fun: it’s also the best way for young children to learn. By playing, children can practise all the skills they’ll need as they grow up and parents and carers are a baby’s favourite playmate. You don’t need expensive toys – just a few minutes at a time to have fun together.

Remember this when playing with little ones. Make every day special with your little one: play, talk, and read together to build a loving and connected bond. Bring the play into everyday.

Your baby or toddler’s favourite playmate is you – so try to spend time playing with your baby or toddler every day. Did you know that playing actually requires a lot of your baby or toddler’s brain and muscle power?

It helps develop their social, intellectual, language and problem-solving skills – and is one of the main ways they learn about the world.

Play is so important that it is considered a human right for children.

Helpful resources:

50 Things to Do Before Your Five

Tiny Happy People – Activities

Family Hubs Activities

NHS – Start For Life – Baby Moves

NHS – Start For Life – Activities for Toddlers

Read

Reading can make us laugh, cry, stir-up emotions to make us think differently or help us to walk in someone else’s shoes. Being able to read can help our children unlock the magic of books and develop a lifelong love of reading. Nurturing reading skills is important to set the foundations for a child’s early language, thinking and writing ability.

Make every day special with your little one: play, talk, and read together to build a loving and connected bond. Remember to have fun when reading with little ones.

Share books.

Share words.

Share everywhere.

Reading with your child, even for just a few minutes, can make a huge difference to their learning. Children’s brains are like little sponges, soaking up everything around them. Kids love it when you chat, play and read with them. And it sets them up nicely for school.

Helpful resources:

Libraries for Children

Tiny Happy People – Reading to Toddlers

Start for Life – Early Learning and Development