Research School Network: Building The Foundations Embedding Metacognition in the Early Years

From ​‘I Try Bears’ to Independent Learners: Embedding Metacognition in the Early Years

It’s a busy Tuesday morning in our Reception classroom. The environment hums with purposeful noise as children explore, investigate, and learn. As I support a small group in the sand area, I notice a child nearby constructing a tower from cubes. With great determination, she announces to her friend, ​“I’m going to make it taller than you.” The tower grows taller, teetering with each additional block, before finally collapsing. Unfazed, the child rebuilds, this time asking a peer to help stabilise the middle. As the final cube surpasses her friend’s height, she triumphantly declares, ​“I did it – I’m an I Try Bear!”

This moment may appear simple, but it captures something powerful: a child articulating resilience through language explicitly taught to support self-regulation and metacognition — two cornerstones of effective learning highlighted in the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)‘s Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning guidance report.

Making Metacognition Accessible in the Early Years

Despite common misconceptions that metacognitive strategies are reserved for older pupils, the EEF reminds us that even young children can engage in metacognitive and self-regulatory behaviours (Recommendation 1). Our practice affirms this. In our setting, we bring these complex ideas to life through our ​‘Bears’ – a collection of child-friendly characters, each representing a different characteristic of effective learning. The I Try Bear supports children in developing perseverance and resilience, while others represent different aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework.

This approach builds on Recommendation 2 from the guidance: explicitly teach pupils metacognitive strategies, including how to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning. By embedding this language into our daily interactions, displays, and planning, we help children internalise these behaviours and recognise their role as active participants in their learning journey.

Modelling Thinking: The Power of Deliberate Difficulty

Recommendation 3 highlights the importance of modelling thinking to develop both cognitive and metacognitive skills. In our classroom, we plan opportunities for what we term ​‘deliberate difficulty’ — intentional challenges that allow children to see problem-solving in action. Role play provides a particularly effective vehicle. Recently, our teaching assistant wanted to document the progress of our class caterpillars. She began by verbalising her plan: ​“I want to write a diary. What paper should I use? Where do I find it?” She rehearsed her sentence aloud, paused when unsure about letter formation, and asked for support. The children responded with strategies we’ve practised together: ​“Start where the red dot is!” This was metacognition in action — shared, visible, and collaborative.

Structured Challenge Through Play

We extend deliberate difficulty into child-led play. Simple resource limitations — such as providing fewer glue sticks or scissors — prompt opportunities for children to plan, negotiate, and reflect. These moments are scaffolded early in the year: ​“Can we use a timer?” or ​“What could we do while we wait?” Over time, this scaffolding is gradually removed, consistent with the guidance to move from supported to independent use of strategies.

One example emerged during a bubble-blowing session. Faced with the familiar challenge of taking turns, staff initially modelled solution strategies, such as creating a list and using ticks to track turns. Later, this became child-led. One pupil suggested, ​“Let’s make a list – I’ll get the clipboard!” These interactions build on Recommendation 6: explicitly teach pupils how to organise and manage their learning independently — a skill just as vital in Reception as it is at Key Stage 4.

Creating the Conditions for Independent LearnersWhile the EEF report refers to older students organising revision, in the Early Years this begins with routines and classroom systems. In our setting, the first weeks of school prioritise routine, independence, and classroom organisation over formal instruction. Children learn where resources live, supported by shadowing, photographs, and consistent modelling. These small but significant strategies develop children’s executive function — the capacity to plan, manage time, and maintain focus.Transitions, too, are treated with intention. Recognising that children deeply engaged in play may struggle with abrupt changes, we provide visual countdowns and verbal prompts to empower them to manage their time: ​“Tidy time is coming soon. What do you want to do before then?”

A Culture of Self-Regulation

The final recommendation from the EEF reminds us that this work takes time. Metacognitive and self-regulatory practices are not quick fixes — they require sustained and embedded practice. In our Early Years unit, metacognition isn’t an add-on; it’s the fabric of our provision. By naming behaviours, modelling thought processes, and providing space for reflection and independence, we are laying the foundations for lifelong learners.

The EYFS framework already places strong emphasis on the Characteristics of Effective Learning — central to self-regulation and metacognition. By making these concepts visible, tangible, and meaningful for young children, we ensure they are not only school-ready but learning-ready.