This September, thousands of children will be walking through their new school gates for the very first time. Somewhere along the way, getting them ready might’ve felt like a long checklist for their parents – making sure they can use the toilet independently, count to ten, sit still, use scissors, zip up their own coat.
Of course these skills matter, but treating readiness as a set of boxes to tick before September misses the bigger picture. Instead, we believe it is about preparing children for school, supporting families and ensuring schools are ready to receive them.
This idea steers everything we do at Learning with Parents: helping families turn everyday moments into learning through talk, play and exploration. While children settle into school well for many reasons, things like simple conversations and shared games cost nothing, take very little time, but make a huge difference.
Building the foundations of school readiness
Emotional regulation, curiosity, the confidence to try and fail and the ability to communicate a need – these are the building blocks of a child’s development. These skills are grown through the everyday realities of family life: navigating a turn-taking board game, asking questions on the walk to the bus stop, or learning to deal with the emotions of a tumbled tower of blocks a child has spent all morning making! Equipping your child with these emotional and social tools doesn’t require endless resources or a rigorous schedule. By inviting your child into the existing daily routine and letting play do a lot of the work, you are helping build a foundation that will support them long after that first week of term.
Below we have chosen some of our favourite, fun, low-resource activities from our Ready Teddy school readiness programme you could do together at home as you prepare for the first day.
Home learning activities to help your child get ready for school
If you’re happy and you know it (helping children recognise and manage emotions)
- Sing ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ in front of a mirror so you can watch the emotions on your face.
- Try swapping happy for different emotions and actions:
- Cross – cross your arms
- Frustrated – stomp your feet
- Excited – jump up and down
- Sad – make a frown
- Scared – hide your face
- Try making up your own!
What’s in the bag? (a sensory guessing game for communication skills)
This game can be played with 2 or more people.
- Player 1: Close your eyes.
- Player 2: Choose an object and put it in the bag.
- Player 1: Feel in the bag (don’t look) – describe what you can feel. Can you guess what it is?
Player 2 can ask questions to help you guess! - When you have guessed, swap over to give the other person a turn at guessing.
Teddy bear picnic (sharing, counting and early maths through play)
- Set out about four teddies (you could also use dolls or action figures).
- Gather a pile of plates to share between them. You will need some snacks- you could use grapes, crackers and apples (or whatever you have at home!).
- Ask your child to share the plates out equally between the teddies.
- Share each snack out equally. Make sure that each teddy has one of each item.
Other top tips for supporting school readiness at home
As you talk, play and explore together, it helps to know what’s happening beneath the surface. Here are just some of the benefits everyday moments of fun can bring to your child:
Play builds language and self-control:
Role play is one of the best predictors of the self-regulation children need to sit in a group, follow instructions and manage frustration.
Building and construction build maths:
Stacking cups, building towers, fitting shapes into a sorter. Long before addition, children are developing the spatial reasoning number understanding is built on.
Messy play strengthens hands:
Squishing dough, pouring water, threading beads, tearing paper – these all strengthen the small hand muscles that will eventually grip a pencil.
Books build strong foundations:
Reading together, asking ‘why,’ predicting what happens next, noticing rhyme. This is the starting point of a love for reading, and it’s the single most important habit for building later literacy skills.
Real-life jobs build independence:
Setting the table, sorting washing by colour, packing their own bag – small responsibilities give children the confidence they’ll need in their new classroom.
The good news is, none of this needs to feel like homework! The best preparation for primary school is often the thing you’re already doing – playing, talking, letting your child help and being there when they need you. Our Ready Teddy school readiness programme was created with exactly that in mind, so both parents and teachers can feel confident that September will start with a spring in every child’s step!
School readiness FAQs
What does ‘school readiness’ actually mean?
It’s not about a child being able to read or write before their first day. To us, school readiness simply means your child arrives at school feeling confident, secure and ready to engage with life and learning in the classroom.
How do I know if my child is ready for school?
There is no test to pass! Every child develops at their own pace, and some will naturally need a little more time and help than others. Instead of a checklist, you can look out for simple, everyday things like:
- Settling into a new space without prolonged distress
- Following a simple, one-step instruction
- Using the toilet independently
- Showing a bit of curiosity when trying something new
What can I do at home to help my child get ready for school?
Small, everyday moments matter so much more than structured lessons at this point. You do not need any special resources at all. You can build great foundations together just by:
- Sharing stories : Reading together and chatting about the pictures.
- Playing together : Games that practice taking turns, sharing and early numbers.
- Giving small jobs : Asking them to help set the table or put toys away.
- Talking lots : Chatting about their feelings, their new classroom and what a school day might look like.
Does my child need to be able to read before starting school?
No- schools expect to teach reading from scratch. What helps most right now is simply nurturing a love for books. Reading aloud to them, singing rhymes and playing with sounds is the perfect head start. Remember it all counts – audiobooks, picture books, made up stories, songs and rhymes, bedtime stories – each experience is valuable.
What if I think my child isn’t ready?
Firstly, try not to worry! There are lots of people there to support you – speak to your child’s new school, your health visitor and even friends at the same stage. Most children settle in beautifully within the first few weeks regardless of where they start, and school staff are experienced in supporting children from all different starting points.
Like the sound of more activities like these? Ready Teddy is our school readiness programme, provided free to families through their child’s school. Ask your school if they’re already signed up — or if you work in education, find out more about bringing Ready Teddy to your school:
