The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has undergone significant changes in recent years, particularly with a renewed emphasis on promoting talk across all seven areas of learning and development. One of the innovative approaches gaining traction in early years settings is the concept of “Talking Hotspots”.
In this blog post, we will explore what Talking Hotspots are, their importance in fostering communication skills in young children, and the research supporting the benefits of talk in early years education.
Talking Hotspots are areas within the early years setting where children are encouraged to engage in conversation, share ideas, ask questions, and express their thoughts and feelings. These hotspots can be physical spaces like cosy corners with cushions and books, interactive display boards, or even outdoor areas designed to stimulate conversation and interaction. Any area in the environment can be turned into a Talking Hotspot!
The aim of Talking Hotspots is to create an environment that promotes communication, enhancing our children’s speech and language, collaboration, and critical thinking, all essential skills for a child’s holistic development.
The recent changes to the EYFS framework highlight the importance of talk in early years education. The framework now promotes more talk across all seven areas of learning and development:
SEND Data shared by the DfE (2024), summarised the most common type of need for those with SEN support is speech, language and communication. Communication is the most significant indicator of future health, well-being, and educational outcomes (McQueen and Williams, 2022). The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), conducted by UCL for Save the Children determined that ‘one in four children who struggled with language at age five did not reach the expected standard in English at the end of primary school compared with one in 25 children who had good language skills at age five.’ This shows the importance of developing our children’s communication and language in the early years.
Talking Hotspots provide an opportunity to enhance the chances for talk by simply assessing our environments, locations, resources, and activities.
In the area of learning of Communication and Language, the focus is on developing children’s listening, attention, and speaking skills. Talking Hotspots provide an excellent opportunity for children to practice these skills through a range of meaningful and relevant experiences within a provision.
Talking Hotspots also support children’s personal, social, and emotional development by encouraging them to express their feelings, share experiences, and develop empathy and understanding towards others.
Through conversation, children develop vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking skills, which are fundamental for literacy and mathematical development.
Recent studies in early years education have highlighted the numerous benefits of promoting talk in early years settings:
First think about your classroom layout; the resources, activities, furniture… are there multiple opportunities for children to develop their communication, speech, and language? For adults to engage in purposeful talk with children? Are all the adults in the setting aware of the opportunity’s present? For example, outdoors near a climbing frame or hill could be a Talking Hotspot for developing children’s positional language, taking turns, sharing, and supporting friends. It could be an opportunity to reenact stories or rhymes related to a hill/climb such as Jack and the Beanstalk while climbing up the frame, or The Three Billy Goats Gruff reenacting the hill as a bridge.
When thinking of the layout, it is important to note about the location of the resources to further support this development. Are there easily accessible resources nearby for children to enhance their play? For example– near the tuff tray are their small world resources, materials, high-quality books potentially related to the theme, core-text or interests of your children? This can further prompt and support children’s talk and interactions with others.
Here are some tips for implementing Talking Hotspots in your early years setting:
Talking Hotspots are a valuable tool for promoting communication, collaboration, and critical thinking in the early years. With the recent changes to the EYFS framework emphasising the importance of talk across all areas of learning and development, Talking Hotspots offer an innovative and effective approach to fostering essential skills in young children.
By creating a supportive and engaging environment that encourages conversation and interaction, early years settings can play a crucial role in enhancing children’s language development, cognitive skills, social abilities, and emotional well-being, and in turn life outcomes.
Embrace the power of talk in the EYFS and discover the transformative impact of Talking Hotspots on young children’s learning and development!