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I’m scared of thunder!

Two year old Heidi has been out in the garden with the nursery class when there was a sudden down pour and a thunder storm. They came inside to get out of the rain. Heidi becomes distressed and the practitioners and other children help to comfort her.

Good for looking at

  • Social and emotional development
  • Supporting children with their fears
  • Developing empathy
  • Sustained shared thinking
  • Understanding the world

Notice

  • How do we know how Heidi is feeling through out this clip? (Look out for non-verbal and body language as well as spoken language)
  • How is she learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
  • In what ways do the adults support the children’s learning?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

  • What and how was Heidi communicating?
  • The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support Heidi to manage her strong feelings?
  • What the other children learned through this experience?

Respond

What would you do to:

  • Support Heidi’s understanding of her fears?
  • Encourage other children to support Heidi?
  • Extend Heidi’s learning – e.g. learning more about how the world works, weather, storms etc.?
  • Model behaviours for young children and show how useful they are? Could you talk about your own fears and how you over came them?

What next:

  • Do you know how to support children with their fears? Do you need to find out more about supporting and validating children’s emotions?
  • Are  you good at supporting and listening to children with difficult emotions? Could you support other’s in your team and share your good practice?