Aistear Childminding Blog
In our first Aistear Childminding Blog Aistear Thru The Childminding Lens, we gave a brief overview of the updated Aistear framework and its nine Principles. These Principles place a stronger emphasis on children’s rights, relationships, play, and meaningful and enjoyable experiences that support their learning and growth.
Now we will dive a little deeper, starting with three Principles that are closely connected and put children right at the heart of everything. It is all about seeing the world through the children’s eyes, listening to their voices, and building learning experiences that truly belong to them. Childminders naturally use these Principles every day, so the points below may simply offer a moment to pause, reflect, or spark a new idea.
Agentic Global Citizens
What this means: This principle is about seeing children as important and valued members of our community. Their thoughts, ideas, and opinions matter, and they should be given chances to share them and know they are heard.
Ideas for Your Childminding Home:
- Offer choices during the day. “Would you like to paint, build with blocks, or play outside?” “Do you want an apple or a banana for your snack?”
- Involve children in planning. Ask what activities they might like to do tomorrow. Create a “planning board” with pictures or drawings of activity ideas. Have a “suggestion jar” where children can pop in ideas for games, crafts, or outings.
- Encourage conversation at mealtimes. Chat about their favourite foods at home. Ask what vegetables they like best, or if they have ever tried a new fruit. Let them help you plan a snack menu for the week.
- Let them help set up the play space. Ask where toys, books, or art supplies should go. Involve them in choosing what goes on the table for an activity.
- Ask questions instead of always giving instructions. “What do we need to pack for our picnic?” “Which story should we read before nap time?”
- Celebrate their ideas and decisions: Show you have listened by following through when possible. Display their artwork and write their name and a short quote about what they made.
- Encourage leadership in play. Let children take turns leading a game, story, or song. Follow their lead in pretend play, allowing them to direct the storyline.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
What this means: This principle is about making sure every child feels welcome, valued, and included, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what their abilities are. It is about celebrating differences and making sure everyone gets a fair chance to take part and shine. Speak to the child’s parents to gain a clear understanding of each child’s individual needs.
Ideas for Your Childminding Home:
- Celebrate different cultures and traditions. Share songs, stories, and games from different countries. Taste foods from around the world together. Use greetings in different languages from your families or the wider community, even simple ones like “Bonjour” or “Ciao”.
- Include a mix of books and toys. Have books, dolls, and resources that reflect different races, languages, cultures, family types, and abilities.
- Learn about each other’s lives. Invite children to share something special about themselves or their family. Display family photos in the playroom so children feel at home.
- Adapt activities so everyone can join in. Offer different tools (adapted scissors, thicker crayons) or approaches (drawing rather than writing) so each child can participate in their own way. During a garden activity, assign tasks that suits each child’s abilities. For example, one child might dig, another might water the plants, and another might place the seeds – each child playing an important role in their own way.
- Create a calm space for children who may need downtime or sensory regulation.
- Use visual aids or pictures to support communication for children who are non-verbal, have English as an additional language, or are still developing speech.
- Model kindness and respect. Use positive language when talking about differences.
- Encourage children to support one another by finding ways each child can participate in activities. Promote inclusion by choosing options that everyone can enjoy together.
Relationships & Interactions
What this means: This principle is about building strong, caring, and respectful relationships between you and the children, and between the children themselves. Children flourish when they feel emotionally safe, seen, and supported by caring adults and friends. Early friendships and secure relationships provide a foundation for confident learning and growth.
Ideas for Your Childminding Home:
- Start each day with a warm welcome, including a smile, eye contact, and use of their name.
- Give each child individual attention. Spend a few minutes each day talking or playing one-to-one with each child. Notice their efforts and achievements.
- Model empathy and respect in your interactions. E.g., “I see you are feeling sad. Let’s find something that helps.”
- Encourage children to listen to each other. Use “listening turns” with a special object so everyone gets a chance to talk
- Work through problems together. Help children put feelings into words and find solutions as a team.
- Play alongside them, join in their games, follow their lead, and use play as a way to connect.
- Encourage friendships by planning small group activities where children can work together and practice sharing, turn-taking, and helping.
We hope you find these ideas useful and inspiring. As you read through them, you might think, “I already do this,” or “This has always been part of my approach.” Aistear simply puts into words the caring, child-centred practices that many childminders are already doing every day.