School Readiness

Big Steps for Little Feet starts here! 🎒

Being “school-ready” isn’t just about knowing letters and numbers — it’s about helping your child feel confident, capable, and curious.

Here are the 5 key areas of school readiness:
✅ Physical Health
✅ Communication
✅ Emotional Wellbeing
✅ Independence
✅ Social Skills

Every child develops at their own pace — and it’s never too early to start building these skills through play, routines, and everyday moments. 💬🧦🧸

Healthy Habits for a Strong Start

🛏️ Children thrive on routine! A consistent daily rhythm helps them feel safe, confident, and ready to learn. Here’s what a day may look like for your school starter 👇

Ideas & Tips:

• Aim for 10–12 hours of sleep per night.
• Start waking up and going to bed at “school time” a few weeks before term starts.
• Practice getting dressed in the morning, with some help – socks, shoes, zips, buttons.
• Keep mealtimes regular and screen-free, start the day off with a low sugar, high fibre breakfast e.g. porridge made with milk and fruit.
• Go to the toilet before leaving the house.
• Practice the school run with your child before the big day. 
• Schedule outdoor play or movement every day.
  
  

🍎 Healthy meals that fuel little learners! Fuel their day the right way! 🥪🍓🥕

Here are some easy, balanced lunch and snack ideas that are perfect for little learners.

Bonus Tip: Practice opening lunchboxes and food packets, peeling fruit, and using a water bottle at home!

Ideas & Tips:

• Protein: Boiled egg, hummus, cheese cubes, chicken strips.
• Fruit: Apple slices, grapes (halved), banana.
• Veg: Cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, carrot batons.
• Wholegrains: Wholemeal sandwich, crackers, mini pitta.
• Treat (optional): Yogurt, homemade flapjack, rice cake.
  
  

For more tips and meal ideas please visit our SSAFA Cyprus Hub for our “Food Corner” articles.

🥄 Mealtime Practice

School lunches are a big step! Practice using cutlery and opening containers at home – this will help a child be more independent at school.

Ideas & Tips:

• Let your child help pack their lunch.
• Practice peeling fruit and opening packets.
• Use child-friendly cutlery.
• Encourage Self-Feeding.
  
  

Boosting Language Every Day – Simple ways to support communication skills

Talking builds brains! 🧠 Try these easy ways to grow your child’s language skills today.

Ideas & Tips:

• Talk about what you’re doing (e.g., “We’re cutting the apple”). Use a variety of words – noun, verbs, adjectives, social words (“hello”, “bye bye”), emotions
• Ask open-ended questions (“What do you think will happen next?”).
• Give your child time to respond in any way they can; using words, gesture, pointing etc. You may have to wait up to 10 seconds.  
• Have periods in the day where there is no TV/tablet/laptops/radio on. Spend this time playing and chatting.  
• Praise any communication attempts, words, gestures, sounds, or pointing.  
• Don’t worry about words that don’t sound correct, children need reassurance when using vocabulary.
• Repeat back what they say using the correct pronunciation and language structure. 
• Encourage your child to help with daily activities in the home/garden and talk about what you are doing.
  
  

For more information on the typical stages of speech and language development in babies, children and young people please visit the Speech & Language UK Ages & Stages.

📚 Storytime and Game Magic - Theme: Reading and sharing stories

Read a book or play “I spy”! Reading together builds vocabulary, imagination, and concentration. 📖💬

What’s your child’s favourite story?

Ideas & Tips: 

• Let your child turn the pages.
• Use voices and actions to make it fun.
• Ask questions like “What do you think happens next?”
• Use our own facial expressions. 
• Purposely make a mistake in familiar stories; can your child spot the mistake and correct you?  This helps to develop active listening skills.
• Read rhyming books (e.g. Julia Donaldson books) together and highlight the rhyming words eg ‘cat, hat – they sound almost the same, they rhyme!’
• Take it in turns to describe pictures in a book or items around you; what does it look like, what does it do, where do you find it, what sound is at the beginning, number of syllables.  
• When reading, completing activities around the house, playing, putting shopping in the trolley, or even on long car journeys, play syllable clapping games – choose words and clap the syllables, e.g. ba-na-na (3), slide (1), trou-sers (2)
• Use puppets to display emotion through comments, actions and voices.
• Play “I Spy” to help notice and describe what is around you.
  
  

For more fun and simple activities to support babies’ and toddlers’ communication and language development please see The National Literacy Trust Early Years Booklet.

📅 Big Feelings, Little People – Managing Separation Anxiety

Here are some suggestions on how to help your child feel safe and confident on their first day at school.

Ideas & Tips:

• Practice short separations and always say goodbye.
• Talk positively about school.
• Use a visual countdown calendar.
• Schedule a practice run of the first day.
  
  

🎨 Expressing Emotions Through Play 

Play is how children process big feelings. Try this simple drawing activity to help them express emotions:

• Draw faces showing happy, sad, angry, and excited.
• Ask your child to match or draw how they feel today.
• Use puppets to model emotional vocabulary like “nervous,” “worried,” or “excited.
  
  

For more information on the five basic emotions, please read our Children's Mental Health Week page.

Learning Through Play 🧩 Play Builds Brains

Play is powerful! 🧠🧸 It helps children develop language, learn to solve problems, develop social skills, take turns, and explore the world. Playing games and activities can help develop fine and gross motor skills. 

Ideas & Tips:

• Build with blocks
• Pretend play (shop, doctor)
• Sorting games (by colour, size)
• Pegs on a line
• Playdough shapes
• Cutting along lines with child-safe scissors
• Bead or pasta threading 
  
  

📅 Independence = Confidence

🧦 Let's play Independence Bingo!  Encourage your child to give each activity a go — and celebrate every step they take toward becoming school-ready!

✉️ Activity: “Letter to My Future Self”

Let’s wrap up the week with a special keepsake!

If your child is starting school in September, invite them to write or draw a letter to their future self. What are they excited about? What do they hope to learn? What makes them feel brave?
📩 Seal it up and save it to open after their first week at school or even at the end of the year — then see how many of their questions were answered and how far they’ve come!

🎉 That’s a Wrap!

Thank you for joining us this week for Big Steps for Little Feet — a journey to help our youngest children feel confident, capable, and ready for school life.

From building routines and independence to exploring emotions and play, every small step you’ve taken makes a big difference. 💛

👣 Remember: School readiness is not about being perfect — it’s about trying, growing, and learning together.

📚 Want to keep going?

Explore more tips and activities at the Starting Reception website.

📞 And if you’d like to speak to someone, your SSAFA Community Healthcare Team is here to support you and your child every step of the way.

#BigStepsForLittleFeet 
#SchoolReady 
#ParentPower 
#ReadySteadySchool