How Parents can Involve Babies, Toddlers and Young Children in Decision-making Through the Support of Tusla Family Support Baby and Toddler Groups
Tusla Family Support practitioners in Cherry Orchard set up baby and toddler groups for children under the age of five years in Ballyfermot, Cherry Orchard and Clondalkin. These groups are drop-in, and parents can come whenever they like during the first five years of their child’s life. They are attended by mothers or fathers and their very young children, and each session is for two to three hours
Purpose of the baby and toddler groups
The purpose of the groups is to support parents to enable children to become confident communicators and learners and to have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. The Family Support workers hold the sessions in big spaces to enable children to be involved in decision-making about their play and activity choices.
What happens at each group session?
Workers play and interact with babies and children as a way of modelling positive behaviours to parents to support them to listen to their children and act on children’s views.
How the Family Support workers prioritise listening to children and acting on their views
• The family support workers offer massage to babies during which they observe, listen and attend to the babies’ cues by stopping the massage if a baby is upset or indicates distress and model this for the parents. They encourage parents to observe and listen to the baby’s cues, such as smiling, crying, stretching and wriggling, pointing out that these cues are how the baby expresses what she/he wants and likes.
• Family support workers constantly observe the children’s body language, expressions, behaviour and wishes and encourage parents to do the same.
• Family support workers model open communication and engagement with children at the child’s level, including listening to and talking to children and encouraging parents to do this.
• Workers support children to learn and understand turn-taking with toys and activities and encourage parents to adopt this approach.
• Workers ask children for their views or observe their preferences in sourcing things like markers, pencils, pictures, stickers, chalk and other materials.
• Workers use observation to listen to the views of children with additional needs. For example, one little boy loves two specific jigsaws, and workers make sure to have those jigsaws available for him.
• To ensure that the groups are inclusive, workers make sure that sensory play is available and have spaces for children to enjoy quiet time. Here is a picture of their summer sensory corner beach theme:
• Toddlers and young children can choose to do whatever they like from a variety of playbased activities around the room, such as arts and crafts, sensory play, using different textures, playing with toys and other activities.
How the babies and children are given SPACE, VOICE, AUDIENCE and INFLUENCE
Space: 
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Voice:
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Audience:
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Influence:
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