EYFS

Thriving at Two: Supporting Two-Year-Olds

Deepen your understanding of how to support and nurture two-year-olds with our specialised CPD course designed for early years practitioners. This comprehensive course provides essential insights into the unique developmental milestones, behaviours and learning needs of two-year-olds. Gain practical strategies to enhance their communication, social skills and emotional wellbeing while fostering their independence and curiosity.

Ideal for all early years educators and leaders, this course offers flexible online modules, expert guidance and practical activities to help you confidently create enriching environments tailored to this crucial stage of growth.

Empty space, drag to resize
Write your awesome label here.

Louise Hack,
Tracie Butterfill,
Michelle Windridge &
Julia Dourish

2 hours

Online Course

By completing this course, you will:

understand the significance of attachment and attunement as key components in fostering secure and trusting relationships with two-year-olds;
recognise the developmental milestones of two-year-olds, gaining insights into their physical, emotional, social and cognitive growth;
enhance your ability to support communication and language development, using effective strategies to nurture two-year-olds' expressive and receptive skills;
develop practical approaches to understanding and managing behaviour, promoting positive relationships and self-regulation;
create enriching indoor and outdoor environments and strengthen partnerships with families to support two-year-olds' learning and development.

Course Lessons

Written by: Louise Hack

Empty space, drag to resize
Louise Hack is a passionate educator with over 25 years of experience in early years education, having worked in and supported nurseries, school-based and outdoor settings. Throughout her career, she has worked with a wide range of age groups, held senior leadership positions and provided consultancy focused on communication and language across both private and maintained settings.

Louise has worked at Twinkl for 4 years as an educational content writer, contributing to both the EYFS and Early Years CPD teams. She has a strong commitment to early childhood development and is dedicated to highlighting the vital role early years education plays in laying the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing in children under five. Louise has contributed to the development of numerous CPD resources on a wide range of topics, including communication and language, schemas, outdoor learning and specialised content focusing on babies and toddlers.

Developed with contributions from: 
Tracie Butterfill

Empty space, drag to resize
Tracie Butterfill is the National Education Lead for EYFS (Childminders and PVI) at Twinkl and is qualified to Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) level, holds a BA in Early Childhood Studies, is a qualified Mental Health First Aider and has over 30 years of experience in the early years sector, holding a wide variety of roles, including: Regional Trainer, Programme Manager for a government-funded professional development programme, an Early Years Equality and Inclusion Adviser, Higher Education Lecturer, a School Trustee and Vice-Chair of Governing Body (primary), Local Authority Early Years Improvement and Standards Advisor and various roles within PVI settings.  

Tracie is passionate about early childhood education and feels privileged to be able to support early years educators with their professional development, inclusive practices and high quality provision through support, training and guidance across the sector. Tracie has delivered workshops, exhibited at events and created documents and resources to further support the early years workforce. 

Tracie remains dedicated to improving outcomes for all children through collaborative working, innovative support and training, and ensuring high aspirations for all.

Developed with contributions from: Michelle Windridge

Empty space, drag to resize
Michelle Windridge is a highly experienced primary and early years educator with over 20 years of teaching across EYFS, KS1 and KS2. She is currently the National Education Lead for School-Based EYFS, supporting and championing high-quality early years provision nationwide.

Michelle is an education writer and external examiner for higher education programmes in Primary and Early Childhood Studies. Her previous roles include Lecturer in Education — achieving Fellowship status and senior leadership positions, such as Assistant Headteacher and Specialist Leader of Education.

Michelle’s work is underpinned by a belief that every child deserves an outstanding early education, and her practice is rooted in ongoing professional development, current research and reflective practice.

Created in collaboration with: 
Julia Dourish 

Empty space, drag to resize
Julia Dourish is the Educational Content Lead for Early Years CPD at Twinkl. As a qualified early years educator, Julia has many years of experience teaching and leading in the UK and abroad. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts and Science in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods, to help further deepen her understanding of early childhood education and its complexities.

Passionate about supporting early years educators, Julia has developed CPD resources on topics, such as play, attachment theory, risky play and many more. Regularly featured on episodes of the renowned podcast ‘Twinkl Talks: EYFS’, Julia is committed to empowering early years professionals with the knowledge and confidence to create enriching learning experiences for young children.