Pen Green Centre for children and their families

There the Dance Is: Bringing Co-Regulation into Practice

From understanding children’s states to knowing how to respond

This third session with Professor Sam Wass brings together the thinking explored across the There the Dance Is series and considers what it means for everyday early years practice.

Drawing on Sam’s research into attention, regulation and the dynamic relationship between children and adults, we will move from theory into practice: What might we notice? What might a child be communicating through their behaviour? And what can we actually do in response?

Using real-life early years situations, the session will explore how practitioners can recognise changes in children’s attention and arousal, think about when to join, respond, wait or step back, and consider how our own state and responses can influence the child.

Rather than offering a set of techniques or a checklist, the session will help practitioners develop a way of looking, noticing and thinking about co-regulation in everyday interactions.

New to the series? Recordings of Sam’s first two sessions are available to watch, offering an opportunity to explore the thinking that this practice-focused session will build upon.