ASELS

Cooperation isn't just a soft skill—it’s a foundational competency that can be intentionally scaffolded through curriculum design. By intentionally replacing competitive activities with long-term collaborative projects, early childhood educators can foster deep peer connections, problem-solving, and a sense of shared agency. Integrating collaborative learning into early education layouts can take many forms:

- Creative Arts: Facilitating child-led, large-scale murals that blend individual expression with a shared vision.
- STEM & Construction: Co-constructing complex structures like giant marble runs or building miniature sustainable cities out of recycled materials.
- Environmental Responsibility: Co-managing a classroom sensory garden where children share caretaking duties.
- Literacy & Reflection: Developing interactive, collective storytelling experiences.

How do we teach social communication during play without micro-managing? By shifting from directing to coaching. Intentional educators use four key strategies to scaffold peer interactions:

- Open-ended questions: "Oliver wants a turn, how can we solve this?" This builds agency.
- Scripts: "Ask Lily, 'Can I help build?'" This supports social communication.
- Feedback: "I see you sharing that block!" This reinforces repetition.
- Role-play: This allows children to observe, analyse and practice complex social dynamics in a safe environment.

Want to encourage cooperative play? Provide open-ended resources! These allow children to share, plan and build together. Examples include:

-📦 Cardboard boxes & large blocks
- 🎭 Dramatic play props
- 🚂 Train sets & magnetic tiles
-🎨 Butcher paper with shared art supplies
- 🍁 Natural materials (pinecones, seed pods, etc.)

Did you know that co-operative play is a major milestone in early childhood development? It marks the beautiful shift from children playing next to each other (parallel play) to truly playing together. When children cooperate, they aren't just having fun, they're building essential life skills. Co-operative play teaches children how to:

- Negotiate & share toys and ideas
- Solve problems together as a team
- Understand different perspectives outside their own
- Manage complex emotions during disagreements.

Early play interactions lay the ultimate foundation for lifelong social success❤️

Build a kinder community and help your children be known for their kind hearts. This starts with friendly reminders that lay the foundation for healthy, positive interactions and relationships, such as "We always use safe hands and safe feet" and "We always use kind words and actions" 😊

Repairing is an important step in healing a relationship after a conflict. Adults can encourage restorative practices, such as having a young child help rebuild the tower they knocked over. This not only repairs the relationship but also supports the development of healthy relational skills during the foundation years.

Empower young children to deal with bullying by teaching them to say, "Stop, I don't like it!" and having them hold up a hand to express their feelings with both words and actions.

Intentionally teaching children skills that foster positive relationships and emotional regulation not only addresses bullying but also meets the core requirements of ECEC curriculum, particularly those focused on helping children feel safe, respect our diverse community, regulate emotions, empathise and problem-solve.

While young children are still learning social skills, repeated, intentional and targeted attacks on others (particularly those perceived as weaker) indicate a trend toward bullying that requires immediate attention. Bullying can take many forms, including verbal, physical and social (such as repeated and intentional exclusion). Children bully when they haven't yet developed appropriate social and communication skills and the ability to manage their emotions, when they are trying to fit in or gain attention, and when they are exposed to bullying behaviour (including during unsupervised screen time). Teaching young children strategies that challenge bullying addresses an important social issue before the behaviour becomes entrenched.

Begin writing mock observations using the new social-emotional descriptors in the updated VEYLDF to ensure your documentation clearly shows a child's progress in SEL areas, such as peer relationships, emotional literacy and self-regulation. Use these to practise writing effective Transition Learning and Development Statements that help Prep teachers understand each child so they can plan a curriculum that supports ongoing learning and development in these areas, as social and emotional competence is a key driver of success across the lifespan.