EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Birth to Three - Prime Areas

Communication and Language Communication and Language

• Turn towards familiar sounds. They are also startled by loud noises and • Listen to simple stories and understand what is happening, with the help Not applicable
accurately locate the source of a familiar person’s voice, such as their key of the pictures.
person or a parent.
• Identify familiar objects and properties for practitioners when they are
• Gaze at faces, copying facial expressions and movements like sticking out described. For example: ‘Katie’s coat’, ‘blue car’, ‘shiny apple’.
their tongue. Make eye contact for longer periods.
• Understand and act on longer sentences like ‘make teddy jump’ or ‘find your coat’.
• Watch someone’s face as they talk.
• Copy what adults do, taking ‘turns’ in conversations (through babbling) • Understand simple questions about ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’ (but
and activities. Try to copy adult speech and lip movements. generally not ‘why’).
• Enjoy singing, music and toys that make sounds.
• Recognise and are calmed by a familiar and friendly voice. Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Listen and respond to a simple instruction.
• Make sounds to get attention in different ways (for example, crying when
hungry or unhappy, making gurgling sounds, laughing, cooing or babbling). • Find ways to calm themselves, through being calmed and comforted by
• Babble, using sounds like ‘ba- ba’, ‘mamama’. their key person.
• Use gestures like waving and pointing to communicate. • Establish their sense of self.

• Reach or point to something they want while making sounds. • Express preferences and decisions. They also try new things and
start establishing their autonomy.
• Copy your gestures and words.
• Engage with others through gestures, gaze and talk.
• Constantly babble and use single words during play.
• Use that engagement to achieve a goal. For example, gesture towards their cup
• Use intonation, pitch and changing volume when ‘talking’. to say they want a drink.
• Understand single words in context – ‘cup’, ‘milk’, ‘daddy’.
• Understand frequently used words such as ‘all gone’, ‘no’ and ‘bye-bye’.

• Understand simple instructions like “give to mummy” or “stop”.

• Recognise and point to objects if asked about them.

• Generally focus on an activity of their own choice and find it difficult to be • Feel strong enough to express a range of emotions.
directed • Grow in independence, rejecting help (“me do it”). Sometimes this leads
by an adult. to feelings of frustration and tantrums.
• Listen to other people’s talk with interest, but can easily be distracted
by other things. • Begin to show ‘effortful control’. For example, waiting for a turn and resisting
the strong impulse to grab what they want or push their way to the front.
• Can become frustrated when they can’t make themselves understood.
• Be increasingly able to talk about and manage their emotions.
• Start to say how they are feeling, using words as well as actions.
• Notice and ask questions about differences, such as skin colour, types of
• Start to develop conversation, often jumping from topic to topic. hair, gender, special needs and disabilities, and so on.
• Develop pretend play: ‘putting the baby to sleep’ or ‘driving the car to the shops’.
• Develop friendships with other children.
• Use the speech sounds p, b, m, w.
• Are usually still learning to pronounce: • Safely explore emotions beyond their normal range through play and stories.
- l/r/w/y - s/sh/ch/dz/j • Are talking about their feelings in more elaborated ways: “I’m sad because...”
- f/th - multi-syllabic words such as ‘banana’ and ‘computer’ or “I love it when ...”.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Birth to Three - Prime Areas
Physical Development
• Lift their head while lying on their front.
• Push their chest up with straight arms.
• Roll over: from front to back, then back to front.
• Enjoy moving when outdoors and inside.

• Sit without support.

• Begin to crawl in different ways and directions.
• Pull themselves upright and bouncing in
preparation for walking.

• Reach out for objects as co-ordination develops.

• Eat finger food and develop likes and dislikes.
• Try a wider range of foods with different
tastes and textures.
• Lift objects up to suck them.
• Pass things from one hand to the other. Let go of
things and hands them to another person, or drops
them.
• Gradually gain control of their whole body through
continual practice of large movements, such as
waving, kicking, rolling, crawling and walking.
• Clap and stamp to music.

• Fit themselves into spaces, like tunnels, dens and

large boxes, and move around in them.
• Enjoy starting to kick, throw and catch balls.
• Build independently with a range of appropriate resources.

• Begin to walk independently – choosing appropriate props

to support at first.
• Walk, run, jump and climb – and start to use the
stairs independently.

• Spin, roll and independently use ropes and swings

(for example, tyre swings).
• Sit on a push-along wheeled toy, use a scooter or
ride a tricycle.

• Develop manipulation and control.

• Explore different materials and tools.

• Use large and small motor skills to do things

independently, for example manage buttons and zips,
and pour drinks.
• Show an increasing desire to be independent, such
as wanting to feed themselves and dress or
undress.
• Learn to use the toilet with help, and then independently.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Birth to Three - Specific Areas

Literacy Mathematics Expressive Arts and Design

• Enjoy songs and rhymes, tuning in and paying attention. • Combine objects like stacking blocks and cups. Put objects • Show attention to sounds and music.
inside others and take them out again. • Respond emotionally and physically to music when it changes.
• Join in with songs and rhymes, copying sounds, rhythms,
tunes and tempo. • Move and dance to music.
• Take part in finger rhymes with numbers.
• Say some of the words in songs and rhymes. • React to changes of amount in a group of up to three items. • Anticipate phrases and actions in rhymes and songs, like ‘Peepo’.
• Copy finger movements and other gestures. • Explore their voices and enjoy making sounds.
• Compare amounts, saying ‘lots’, ‘more’ or ‘same’.
• Sing songs and say rhymes independently, for example,
singing whilst playing. • Counting-like behaviour, such as making sounds, pointing or • Join in with songs and rhymes, making some sounds.
saying some numbers in sequence. • Make rhythmical and repetitive sounds.
• Enjoy sharing books with an adult. • Explore a range of sound-makers and instruments and play them
• Count in everyday contexts, sometimes skipping numbers - ‘1-2-3-5.’
• Pay attention and responds to the pictures or the words. in different ways.
• Have favourite books and seeks them out, to share with an adult, • Climb and squeezing selves into different types of spaces.
• Notice patterns with strong contrasts and be attracted by
with another child, or to look at alone. • Build with a range of resources. patterns resembling the human face.
• Repeat words and phrases from familiar stories. • Complete inset puzzles. • Start to make marks intentionally.
• Ask questions about the book. Makes comments and shares • Explore paint, using fingers and other parts of their bodies as well as
their own ideas. • Compare sizes, weights etc. using gesture and language -
‘bigger/ little/smaller’, ‘high/low’, ‘tall’, ‘heavy’. brushes and other tools.
• Develop play around favourite stories using props. • Express ideas and feelings through making marks, and
• Notice patterns and arrange things in patterns. sometimes give a meaning to the marks they make.
• Notice some print, such as the first letter of their name, a bus or door
number, or a familiar logo. • Enjoy and take part in action songs, such as ‘Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star’.
• Enjoy drawing freely.
• Add some marks to their drawings, which they give meaning to.
Understanding the World • Start to develop pretend play, pretending that one object
For example: “That says mummy.” represents another. For example, a child holds a wooden block to
• Repeat actions that have an effect. her ear and pretends it’s a phone.
• Make marks on their picture to stand for their name. • Explore materials with different properties.
• Explore natural materials, indoors and outside. • Explore different materials, using all their senses to investigate
them. Manipulate and play with different materials.
• Explore and respond to different natural phenomena in their • Use their imagination as they consider what they can do with
setting and on trips. different materials.
• Make simple models which express their ideas.
• Make connections between the features of their family
and other families.

• Notice differences between people.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Three and Four-Year-Olds - Prime
Areas
Communication and Language

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much
of what happens.
• Can find it difficult to pay attention to more than one thing at a time.

• Use a wider range of vocabulary.

• Understand a question or instruction that has two parts, such as
“Get your coat and wait at the door”.
• Understand ‘why’ questions, like: “Why do you think the
caterpillar got so fat?”

• Sing a large repertoire of songs.

• Know many rhymes, be able to talk about familiar books, and be able
to tell a long story. • Select and use activities and resources, with help when needed.
This helps them to achieve a goal they have chosen, or one which
• Develop their communication, but may continue to have problems is suggested to them.
with irregular tenses and plurals, such as ‘runned’ for ‘ran’,
‘swimmed’ for ‘swam’. • Develop their sense of responsibility and membership of a community.
• May have problems saying:
- some sounds: r, j, th, ch, and sh • Become more outgoing with unfamiliar people, in the safe context
- multisyllabic words such as ‘pterodactyl’, ‘planetarium’ of their setting.
or ‘hippopotamus’ • Show more confidence in new social situations.

• Use longer sentences of four to six words. • Play with one or more other children, extending and
elaborating play ideas.
• Be able to express a point of view and to debate when they
disagree with an adult or a friend, using words as well as actions. • Help to find solutions to conflicts and rivalries. For example,
accepting that not everyone can be Spider-Man in the game, and
• Can start a conversation with an adult or a friend and continue it

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Three and Four-Year-Olds - Prime
Areas
Physical Development
• Continue to develop their movement, balancing, riding (scooters,
trikes and bikes) and ball skills.
• Go up steps and stairs, or climb up apparatus, using alternate feet.
• Skip, hop, stand on one leg and hold a pose for a game
like musical statues.
• Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and
make marks.

• Start taking part in some group activities which they make up

for themselves, or in teams.
• Are increasingly able to use and remember sequences and patterns
of movements which are related to music and rhythm.

• Match their developing physical skills to tasks and activities in the

setting. For example, they decide whether to crawl, walk or run
across a plank, depending on its length and width.

• Choose the right resources to carry out their own plan. For
example, choosing a spade to enlarge a small hole they dug with a
trowel.
• Collaborate with others to manage large items, such as moving a
long plank safely, carrying large hollow blocks.
• Use one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips
in paper with scissors.
• Use a comfortable grip with good control when holding
pens and pencils.
• Start to eat independently and learning how to use a knife and fork.
• Show a preference for a dominant hand.

• Be increasingly independent as they get dressed and undressed,

for example, putting coats on and doing up zips.
• Be increasingly independent in meeting their own care needs,
e.g. brushing teeth, using the toilet, washing and drying their
hands thoroughly.
• Make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and toothbrushing.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Three and Four-Year-Olds - Specific
Areas
Mathematics
• Fast recognition of up to 3 objects, without having
to count them individually (‘subitising’).
• Recite numbers past 5.
• Say one number for each item in order: 1,2,3,4,5.
• Know that the last number reached when counting a
small set of objects tells you how many there are in
total (‘cardinal principle’).
• Show ‘finger numbers’ up to 5.
• Link numerals and amounts: for example, showing
the right number of objects to match the numeral, up
to 5.
• Experiment with their own symbols and marks as
well as numerals. Understanding the World
• Solve real world mathematical problems
with numbers up to 5.
• Compare quantities using language: ‘more
than’, ‘fewer than’.

• Talk about and explore 2D and 3D shapes (for example,

circles, rectangles, triangles and cuboids) using
informal and mathematical language: ‘sides’, ‘corners’;
Literacy ‘straight’, ‘flat’, ‘round’.

• Understand position through words alone – for

example, “The bag is under the table,” – with no
pointing.
• Describe a familiar route.
• Discuss routes and locations, using words like ‘in
front of’ and ‘behind’.

• Make comparisons between objects relating to

size, length, weight and capacity. • Use all their senses in hands-on
exploration of natural materials.
• Select shapes appropriately: flat surfaces for building, a • Explore collections of materials with
triangular prism for a roof etc. similar and/or different properties.
• Combine shapes to make new ones – an arch, a • Talk about what they see, using a
bigger triangle etc. wide vocabulary.
• Talk about and identifies the patterns around them. • Begin to make sense of their own life-
For example: stripes on clothes, designs on rugs and story and family’s history.
wallpaper. Use informal language like ‘pointy’,
‘spotty’, ‘blobs’ etc. • Show interest in different occupations.
• Extend and create ABAB patterns – stick, leaf, stick, leaf.
• Notice and correct an error in a repeating pattern. • Explore how things work.
• Begin to describe a sequence of events, real or • Plant seeds and care for growing plants.
fictional, using words such as ‘first’, ‘then...’
• Understand the key features of the life
cycle of a plant and an animal.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Three and Four-Year-Olds - Specific
Areas
Expressive Arts and Design

• Take part in simple pretend play, using an object

to represent something else even though they
are not similar.
• Begin to develop complex stories using small world
equipment like animal sets, dolls and dolls houses
etc.
• Make imaginative and complex ‘small worlds’
with blocks and construction kits, such as a city
with different buildings and a park.
• Explore different materials freely, in order to
develop their ideas about how to use them and
what to make.
• Develop their own ideas and then decide
which materials to use to express them.
• Join different materials and explore different textures.
• Create closed shapes with continuous lines, and
begin to use these shapes to represent objects.
• Draw with increasing complexity and detail, such as
representing a face with a circle and including
details.
• Use drawing to represent ideas like movement
or loud noises.
• Show different emotions in their drawings
and paintings, like happiness, sadness, fear
etc.
• Explore colour and colour-mixing.

• Listen with increased attention to sounds.

• Respond to what they have heard, expressing
their thoughts and feelings.

• Remember and sing entire songs.

• Sing the pitch of a tone sung by another
person (‘pitch match’).

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Children in Reception - Prime Areas

Communication and Language

• Understand how to listen carefully and why listening

is important.

• Learn new vocabulary.

• Use new vocabulary through the day.

• Ask questions to find out more and to check they understand

what has been said to them.

• Articulate their ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences.

• Connect one idea or action to another using a range

of connectives.

• Describe events in some detail.

• Use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and
activities explain how things work and why they might
happen. Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Develop social phrases.

• Engage in story times.

• Listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity

and understanding.

• Retell the story, once they have developed a deep

familiarity with the text; some as exact repetition and
some in their own words.

• Use new vocabulary in different contexts.

• Listen carefully to rhymes and songs, paying attention to

how they sound.

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Children in Reception - Prime Areas
Physical Development
• Revise and refine the fundamental movement skills they have already acquired:
- rolling
- crawling
- walking
- jumping
- running
- hopping
- skipping
- climbing

• Progress towards a more fluent style of moving, with developing control and grace.

• Develop the overall body strength, co-ordination, balance and agility needed to
engage successfully with future physical education sessions and other
physical disciplines including dance, gymnastics, sport and swimming.

• Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools
competently, safely and confidently. Suggested tools: pencils for drawing and
writing, paintbrushes, scissors, knives, forks and spoons.

• Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or
sitting on the floor.

• Combine different movements with ease and fluency.

• Confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and
outside, alone and in a group.
• Develop overall body-strength, balance, co-ordination and agility.

• Further develop and refine a range of ball skills including: throwing, catching,
kicking, passing, batting, and aiming.
• Develop confidence, competence, precision and accuracy when engaging in
activities that involve a ball.

• Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient.

• Know and talk about the different factors that support their overall health
and wellbeing:
- regular physical activity
- healthy eating
- toothbrushing
- sensible amounts of ‘screen time’
- having a good sleep routine
- being a safe pedestrian

• Further develop the skills they need to manage the school day successfully:
- lining up and queuing
- mealtimes
- personal hygiene

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 EYFS Development Matters 2020 Statements Children in Reception - Specific Areas

Literacy Mathematics Understanding the World

• Read individual letters by saying the sounds for them. • Count objects, actions and sounds. • Talk about members of their immediate family and community.

• Blend sounds into words, so that they can read short • Subitise. • Name and describe people who are familiar to them.
words made up of known letter-sound correspondences.
• Link the number symbol (numeral) with its • Comment on images of familiar situations in the past.
• Read some letter groups that each represent one sound cardinal number value.
and say sounds for them. • Compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
• Count beyond ten.
• Read a few common exception words matched to • Draw information from a simple map.
the school’s phonic programme. • Compare numbers.
• Understand that some places are special to members of their community.
• Read simple phrases and sentences made up of • Understand the ‘one more than/one less than’
words with known letter–sound correspondences relationship between consecutive numbers. • Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
and, where necessary, a few exception words.
• Explore the composition of numbers to 10. • Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in
• Re-read these books to build up their confidence in other countries.
word reading, their fluency and their understanding • Automatically recall number bonds for numbers 0–10.
and enjoyment. • Explore the natural world around them.
• Select, rotate and manipulate shapes in order to
• Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. develop spatial reasoning skills. • Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside.

• Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing • Compose and decompose shapes so that children • Recognise some environments that are different to the one in which they live.
the sound with letter/s. recognise a shape can have other shapes within it, just
as numbers can. • Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them.
• Write short sentences with words with known letter-
sound correspondences using a capital letter and full • Continue, copy and create repeating patterns.
stop.
• Compare length, weight and capacity.
• Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Expressive Arts and Design
• Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings.
• Return to and build on their previous learning, refining ideas and developing their ability to
represent them.
• Create collaboratively sharing ideas, resources and skills.

• Listen attentively, move to and talk about music, expressing their feelings and responses.

• Watch and talk about dance and performance art, expressing their feelings and responses.

• Sing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody.

• Develop storylines in their pretend play.

• Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups.

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