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What are the 7 Areas of Learning of the EYFS?

What are the 7 Areas of Learning of the EYFS?

What are the 7 areas of learning of the EYFS or Early Years Foundation Stage? The EYFS is how the early years professionals and the Government represent the time in a child’s life from birth until they are 5 years old.

This is a critical stage as it helps your child get ready for their school stage. Thus, prepare them for their future learning and successes. According to the British Government, when a child is born, their experience of early year’s should be happy, fun, active, exciting, and secure. The EYFS helps to support their development, care, and learning needs until the age of 5.

What are the 7 Areas of Learning of the EYFS?

Now without further ado, let’s discuss on what are the 7 areas of learning of the EYFS. This learning system must form educational and cultural programmes in early years environments. All areas of learning and development are significant and interconnected.

Learning EYFS

There are two main categories of EYFS learning and development areas:

  • Prime Areas
  • Specific Areas

Prime Areas

Three areas are especially crucial for kindling children’s curiosity. And to ignite the enthusiasm for learning and building capacity to form relationships, learn, and thrive. The Prime Area category has three subcategories, and they are:

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Physical Development
  • Communication and Language Development

The Prime Areas are most vital for a child’s healhy mental development as well as future learning. As children mature, the prime areas help them to strengthen skills in 4 Specific Areas.

1. Personal, Social and Emotional development

Working on Personal, Social and Emotional development

The Personal, Social and Emotional Development area helps children to improve:

  • Assertive knowledge of themselves and others. 
  • Establish emphatic relationships and cultivate respect for others
  • Amplify social skills and discover how to regulate their feelings
  • Understand proper behaviour in groups and have self-confidence.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development area helps shape a children’s social skills. It also helps to understand their complex feelings and generates respect.

2. Physical Development

Physical Development

Who doesn’t know that children often love to be active? However, they should understand that physical activity and healthy food choices are essential. 

The Physical Development area increases possibilities for children to be more engaged and interactive. This area also helps to develop their movement and coordination. The EYFS help children learn the importance of physical activity and making healthy choices concerning food.

3. Communication and Language Development

Communication and Language Development

The Communication and Language Development area provides children with chances to experience a robust language environment. This area helps to develop their self-esteem and skills in self-expression, as well as speak and listen.

Providing young children with an atmosphere to be expressive in various situations enables them to extend their language and communication skills.

Specific Areas

Providers are obligated to also support children in these four Specific Areas. Through these four Specific Areas, the three Prime Areas are established and utilised. The four Specific Areas are:

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

Let’s take a concise look at each of these Early Year Foundation Stage. And also, the EYFS 7 areas of learning and development and why they are essential.

1. Literacy

Children need to discover phonemic awareness. The ability to hear sounds, identify different words and start reading and writing. 

The Literacy area develops and encourages children to link sounds and letters, thus reading and writing. The EYFS gives children access to a wide range of reading materials. Such as books, written materials, and poems to ignite their interest in literacy.

2. Mathematics

The Mathematics area guides children to develop skills with numbers and calculations. Also, with describing shapes, spaces, and measures. 

Mathematics area includes:

  • Presenting with opportunities to improve skills in using numbers, counting, and understanding.
  • Calculating single addition and subtraction puzzles.
  • Defining spaces, shapes, and measures.

3. Understanding the World

Understanding the World

This area guides a child to make sense of their physical world and community. Understanding the World area involves children making sense of things by observing people. They learn to discover technologies and explore everything.

4. Expressive Arts and Design

The Expressive Arts and Design area enable a child to explore and operate with an extensive range of media and elements. As well as provides possibilities. Also, it encourages them to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings. And they do it through some activities like art, music, dance, role-play, movement, design and technology.

The Expressive Arts and Design area will allow children to express themselves in a creative way and learn new things.

Expressive Arts and Design

The bottom line is, the following 7 areas plan a child’s early year learning and activities. Professional teachers of your child’s development will ensure that the assigned activities support his/her unique needs. This is a little similar to the curriculum in primary and secondary schools. Still, it’s suitable for very young children. And it is meant to be flexible so that caregivers can follow a child’s unique needs and interests. 

The 7 areas of learning EYFS make children learn by playing and exploring. Also, by being productive, and creatively and critically thinking, both indoors and outdoors.

If you are interested in learning more about learning of the EYFS, this EYFS Teaching Diploma can be very helpful.

What are the 7 Areas of Learning of the EYFS?

Everyone working in an early year setting needs to be aware of ‘what are the 7 areas of learning of the EYFS’. Along with the understanding of the activities that cover the 7 areas of learning.

Below are some activities one should perform with the child in their early year of learning.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development activities

Examples of personal, social and emotional development activities include 

  • Share exciting stories, retell and play them out.
  • Bake together.
  • Chop the vegetables or fruit together.
  • Set your children with some household chores. Let them spray the window cleaner and clean the window.
  • Join a Yoga class together or practise it if you already know Yoga.
  • Have a family meal and talk about the day.

Physical Development

Following are some great ideas for physical development activities:

  • Threading pasta together.
  • Water play like scooping, pouring and measuring in the garden or the bath.
  • Plot a treasure hunt to hunt it around the house.
  • Stuff modelling.
  • Make a tree house together.
  • Play play-dough together.
  • Play musical movement games like Musical Statues.
  • Decide to build something with Lego or Block and see if you can follow your plan.
  • Make tangible shapes with shaving foam, soap, jelly etc.
  • Draw with water in the garden.
  • Play Phonics.
  • Play Rough and tumble.
  • Build caves and tunnels with blankets under the table or pillow on the bed.

Communication and Language

To improve communication and language skills of children, follow these examples:

  • Do storytelling with puppets that you made together. You can use old lolly sticks, socks, and straws for play.
  • Sing preschool action songs and rhymes, such as Simon Says.
  • Make saucepans and pots your musical instruments.
  • Play guessing games. Such as thinking of an object or animal and giving clues by modelling them to help your child guess the thing.
  • Play language board or memory games
  • You can learn to sign the Makaton Sign of the Week together.

Maths

Maths can be challenging for some children in their early years, so here are a few ideas to make maths easier and fun:

  • Pairing socks.
  • Play board games with dice and counters.
  • Play bigger and smaller games. Describe the 3 Billy Goats Gruff or using Goldilocks.
  • Get your child to help add numbers and order them to the page.
  • Let them measure ingredients to cook or help make dinner.
  • Sing number songs.
  • Let them sort toys by shape or colour.
  • Play sorting coins or money games like Shops or Monopoly.
  • Build roadblocks or train tracks in various shapes.
  • Build a tower from blocks and challenge them to build a different tower using the same number of blocks.
  • Play a bowling game with toilet rolls.

EYFS Teaching Diploma
Get access to the full spectrum of EYFS teaching methodologies. This will guide you in the full responsibilities of a professional EYFS tutor and the principles behind it.
Enrol Now
EYFS Teaching Diploma
Get access to the full spectrum of EYFS teaching methodologies. This will guide you in the full responsibilities of a professional EYFS tutor and the principles behind it.
Enrol Now

Literacy

To improve the literacy skills of children, try the following:

  • Share a storybook and talk about what is going on each page.
  • Play lotto games and matching pictures.
  • Sing a song together.
  • Hide an object in a ‘mystery box’ and clue them to what might or might not be inside.
  • Break up your name by tapping out syllables on musical instruments.

Understanding the World

Understanding the world and seeing everything from children’s perspectives can be fun for adults, too. 

  • Blow soap bubbles.
  • Prepare food together for the family to share.
  • Read informational books on chicks and birds etc., or whatever your child is interested in.
  • Hunt for bugs and butterflies in the garden.
  • Plant your child’s favourite flower or veg seeds. Water them daily and watch them grow together. 
  • Try fun, science experiments.
  • Observe the everyday weather and make a weather chart accordingly.
  • Make a family tree with family members in it.
  • Freeze small squishy toys in ice and work on how to get them out of the ice.
  • Feed the birds in the garden or veranda. Give each one of them a name and keep a score of which birds visit you often.
  • Buy gifts together for loved ones on a special occasion. Help your kid to wrap them and make a label or bow to attach.

Expressive Art and Design

Expressive art and designs can help children grow and help to find their inner creativity and potential. 

  • Make up a family routine of dancing to the music.
  • Sing familiar songs or put your own words on nursery rhyme tunes.
  • Make shakers with rice or pasta in pots.
  • Paint with coloured ice or shaving foam.
  • Make props for your child’s favourite story and act it out together.
  • Play Rough and tumble.
  • Build shelters and passages with sheets and under the kitchen table.

Remember, this is not a tick list for you to do the work down. Pick your favourite activities and do them often or as many times as you like. Repeating them is necessary, though!

EYFS Framework 7 Areas of Learning

The EYFS Framework 7 areas of learning exists to assist all professional operator in the EYFS to help children. It was developed with a number of early year’s experts as well as parents.

The revised statutory framework for the early year’s foundation stage (applies until 31 August 2021) makes it more transparent and easier to use. This new framework focuses on the thing that matters most. It also emphasises your role as a parent or caregiver to help your child develop. Some other aspects of this framework include:

  • Sets out the standards that every early year’s providers must meet to make sure that the children learn and develop properly.
  • Ensures that your children are kept healthy and safe.
  • Assures you that your child has the skills and knowledge they need to start school.
  • Parents that are registered to ‘Look After Children’ must comply with the legal welfare terms. It is to keep your child secure and improve their welfare.
  • Supervises a professional’s action toward children’s play and activities as they learn new skills.
  • Finalises assessments that will tell you about your child’s development through the EYFS.
  • Gives professionals needed guidance to support a child in planning the learning activities. It also observes and assesses what and how your child is learning and developing.

Who is the statutory framework for?

The statutory framework is for the following :

  • School laders.
  • School staff.
  • Childcare providers.
  • Childminders.
  • Out of school providers.

And the statutory framework relates to:

  • The local-authority-maintained schools.
  • The schools that are non-local authority-maintained.
  • The independent schools.
  • Academies and free schools.
  • Nurseries.
  • Private nursery schools.
  • Preschools/playgroups.
  • Childminding.

British law issued Statutory guidance, and you must follow it unless you have a good reason not to do so. The EYFS framework changes become law in September 2021. Help for early years providers is available to prepare for these changes. All the supporting materials are also available on the Foundation Years website.

N: B– You should also read early years foundation stage: coronavirus disapplications.

EYFS Teaching Diploma
Get access to the full spectrum of EYFS teaching methodologies. This will guide you in the full responsibilities of a professional EYFS tutor and the principles behind it.
Enrol Now
EYFS Teaching Diploma
Get access to the full spectrum of EYFS teaching methodologies. This will guide you in the full responsibilities of a professional EYFS tutor and the principles behind it.
Enrol Now

Conclusion

We all know that children grow swiftly in their early years. Therefore, the early years practitioners do everything in their power to help a child have the best possible start in his/her life. 

Children hold rights, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. And to a provision that authorises them to develop their talent and personalities. Also, to develop abilities regardless of their culture or religion. Despite their ethnicity, family background, home language, disabilities, learning difficulties, or gender.

So hopefully, this guide helped you find out what are the 7 areas of learning of the EYFS. And also how it works in each individual child’s development pathway. 

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