Supporting Early Communication in Children Under 3

A Pathway to Stronger Futures

Early communication is one of the most important building blocks in a child’s development. From babbling and gestures to first words and meaningful conversations, communication shapes how children connect with the world around them. When children receive the right support at the right time, they are better equipped to thrive socially, emotionally, and academically.

The Early Communication Pathway developed by East Riding Best Start Family Hubs is designed to ensure families with children under three years old can access tailored support that meets their child’s individual communication and language needs. Through a graduated approach, the pathway helps identify the most appropriate first steps for every child and family.

Why Early Communication Matters

Communication development begins from birth. Long before a child says their first word, they are learning through eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, listening, and interaction with the people around them.

Strong communication skills help children:

• Build relationships and social confidence
• Express emotions, needs, and ideas
• Develop listening and understanding skills
• Prepare for nursery and school learning
• Improve emotional wellbeing and resilience

When communication difficulties are identified early, children can receive support before challenges become more significant. Early intervention can make a lasting difference to a child’s future learning and development.

What Is the Early Communication Pathway?

The Early Communication Pathway is a coordinated support system for families with young children under the age of three. Requests into the pathway are carefully triaged to ensure each child receives the most suitable support.

The pathway includes three key elements:

• Best Start Offer – including Baby Communicators and Early Communicators
• Targeted Support – including Talk Time sessions
• Observation and Assessment Support – including Book Time and specialist referrals where needed

This graduated approach ensures that support is flexible, responsive, and centred around the needs of the child and family.

Early Communicators: Building Skills Through Play and Music

One of the pathway’s most engaging offers is Early Communicators, a fun and interactive music-based session designed to support early communication and language development.

The sessions focus on developing foundational pre-verbal skills through:

• Music and rhythm
• Singing and action songs
• Movement activities
• Turn-taking games
• Interactive play

These sessions welcome both universal and targeted children, creating opportunities for peer role modelling and shared learning between families.

Importantly, facilitators do more than lead activities. They model practical techniques parents and carers can use at home to encourage communication during everyday routines and play. Since children learn most from the people around them, empowering parents is a key part of the pathway’s success.

Talk Time: Targeted Support for Communication Difficulties

For children aged two to under three years who may need more focused support, the pathway offers Talk Time.

Developed in partnership with Portage and Speech and Language Therapy (SLT), Talk Time is a targeted six-week programme designed to strengthen communication and language skills through play-based learning.

Sessions focus on key developmental areas such as:

• Face-to-face interaction
• Listening and attention
• Turn-taking
• Making choices
• Copying sounds and actions
• Early speech sound development
  
  

Children are assessed before and after the programme across four main areas of communication development:

• Listening and attention
• Understanding
• Functional use of language
• Social communication
  

The Importance of Early Intervention

Every child develops at their own pace, but early support can make an enormous difference when communication difficulties arise.

By providing graduated support that ranges from universal opportunities to targeted intervention and specialist pathways, the Early Communication Pathway helps children:

• Develop confidence in communication
• Strengthen relationships with caregivers
• Build essential language foundations
• Improve readiness for nursery and school
• Access support before challenges escalate

Families are not expected to navigate concerns alone. Through accessible, supportive, and practical services, parents and carers are empowered to play an active role in their child’s communication journey.

Final Thoughts

Communication is more than words — it is the foundation of connection, learning, confidence, and emotional wellbeing. Supporting communication in the earliest years gives children the strongest possible start in life.

The Early Communication Pathway demonstrates how coordinated early support, practical family involvement, and playful learning experiences can positively shape outcomes for young children.

By recognising needs early and responding with the right level of support, services can help every child build the skills they need to communicate, connect, and flourish.

This blog was informed by the Early Communication Pathway guidance for professionals and the Request for Early Communication Support documentation provided by East Riding Best Start Family Hubs.