If you can describe what a child did, in plain words, you can write a good EYFS observation. That is the whole trick. The best observations are short, factual and specific: what the child did, what it tells you, and what you will offer next. Everything else, the long narratives, the forced framework links, the fifteen photos of the same sandcastle, is optional, and since 2021 the EYFS itself has been telling us to let it go.
Write what the camera saw, and the child appears on the page.
This guide shows what the framework actually asks for, what separates a useful observation from a weak one, and real examples across all seven areas of learning. At the end: how many observations are enough, and how to turn what you saw into what you plan.
What the EYFS actually requires (and what it doesn't)
The statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage is surprisingly light on documentation. It requires ongoing, formative assessment as an integral part of practice, and two statutory assessment points: the progress check at age two and the EYFS Profile at the end of reception.
Just as important is what it says you do not need:
"Assessment should not entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children, nor require excessive paperwork."
That sentence came out of the 2021 reforms, and it was written on purpose. Development Matters, the non-statutory guidance, goes further: practitioners are not required to produce written evidence for every judgement. Your professional knowledge of the child counts.
So the question is never "have I collected enough evidence?" It is "do I know this child well enough to plan for them, and can I show a parent how I know?"
Good vs. weak observations, side by side
The difference is almost always specificity. A weak observation evaluates; a good observation describes.
| Weak observation | Strong observation | Why it's stronger |
|---|---|---|
| "Ava played nicely in the sand." | "Ava filled the bucket to the top, patted the sand down with the spade, then turned it over slowly with both hands. When it collapsed, she said 'again' and refilled it." | Describes actions and words. You can see persistence and fine motor control without being told. |
| "Noah is good at maths." | "Noah set the snack table and counted out five plates, touching each one: 'one, two, three, four, five.' He noticed one chair had no plate and fetched another." | A countable moment of one-to-one correspondence and problem-solving, not a verdict. |
| "Mia enjoyed story time." | "During The Gruffalo, Mia joined in with 'a gruffalo? what's a gruffalo?' before the page turned, and giggled in anticipation of the snake." | Shows recall, anticipation and engagement with rhythm and rhyme. |
| "Theo struggles to share." | "Theo held both diggers and turned away when Sam reached for one. When I said 'Sam would like a turn when you're finished,' he passed one over after about a minute." | Factual, kind, and already contains the strategy that worked. |
Two habits get you from the left column to the right one: write what you could have filmed, and keep the child's actual words whenever you can. "She said 'again'" will always beat "she showed resilience."
Examples across the seven areas of learning
The EYFS organises learning into three prime areas and four specific areas. Here is one realistic observation for each, with the learning it reveals.
Prime areas
Communication and Language. "At lunch, Zara (3y2m) told me: 'My nana goed to the hospital but she's better now.' When I replied 'she went to the hospital? I'm glad she's better,' Zara nodded and added, 'and we bringed her flowers.'" The past-tense overgeneralisation ('goed', 'bringed') is typical and healthy at this age; the two-clause storytelling is the progress worth noting.
Physical Development. "Eli (2y8m) climbed the three steps of the slide using alternate feet for the first two steps, then both feet on the top step. At the top he paused, turned, and came down on his bottom, feet first, unprompted." A snapshot of gross motor progress plus risk judgement.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development. "When Hana cried at drop-off, Ivy (4y1m) brought her the class bear and sat beside her without speaking. After a minute she said, 'My mummy comes back after snack. Yours too.'" Empathy, and a child using the settling script we use with the group.
Specific areas
Literacy. "Leo (4y3m) 'read' We're Going on a Bear Hunt to two younger children, turning the pages the right way and running his finger left to right under the text, chanting the refrain from memory." Print awareness and reading behaviours, no phonics worksheet needed.
Mathematics. "Building a tower, Ria (3y9m) compared two blocks and chose the longer one: 'this one is more bigger, it goes on the bottom.'" Comparison language and an intuitive grasp of stability.
Understanding the World. "After the rain, Yara (3y5m) found a snail on the path and watched it for several minutes. 'He's got his house on him. Where's his door?'" Sustained curiosity and a genuine scientific question worth following up.
Expressive Arts and Design. "Finn (4y) mixed blue and yellow at the easel, stopped, and shouted across the room: 'I MADE green! You just squish them together!'" Discovery through experimentation, plus the urge to teach it, which is how you know it stuck.
Notice what these have in common: each is three sentences or fewer, each would make sense to the child's family, and each points at an obvious next step.
The main types of observation
You do not need all of these every week. You need the right one for the question you are asking.
- Spontaneous (anecdotal) observations. The bread and butter: a moment you noticed and wrote down. Best for capturing real interests.
- Planned observations. You decide in advance to watch one child during a specific activity, usually because you have a question ("how does Theo manage turn-taking when an adult isn't nearby?").
- WOW moments. Quick first-time celebrations, ideally shared with families the same day. First unaided steps, first name written, first time on the big slide.
- Group observations. One event, several children. Efficient, and often the best record of social learning: who led, who followed, who negotiated.
- Snapshots with photos. A photo plus one good sentence beats a photo with no words. The sentence is the observation; the photo is the illustration.
How many observations are enough?
Honest answer: fewer than most settings collect. A practical rule that holds up across inspections and parent conversations:
- Every child, every week, at least one observation that tells you something. Not one per area, not one per day.
- Coverage over a half term, not a week. Across six weeks, you want moments from all seven areas for each child, so quieter areas don't go unseen.
- A concern changes the rules. If something worries you, observe more, deliberately, across different times of day, and write down facts rather than conclusions. These are the observations you will rely on in conversations with parents and other professionals.
If your team is producing far more than this, the time is coming from somewhere, usually from play, breaks or evenings. That is the paperwork the 2021 reforms told us to cut. Teams using hoopooh speak their observations aloud in the moment and let voice observations auto-tag themselves to the EYFS areas, which turns a two-minute typing job into a ten-second sentence; whatever tool you use, the principle stands: the writing should never cost more than the noticing.
From observation to next steps
An observation that changes nothing was a nice moment, not an assessment. Close the loop with three short questions:
- What did I see? The factual record you just wrote.
- What might it mean? One line. "Ria is comparing sizes spontaneously."
- What will I offer next? One line, and make it an offer rather than a task. "Put the Russian dolls and measuring cylinders out this week and see what she does with them."
Do this and your planning starts writing itself from the children's actual interests, which is precisely what the observe, assess, plan cycle was always meant to be before it drowned in evidence-collecting.
One last reassurance: nobody inspecting your setting wants to read more observations. They want to see that you know your children. Write less, notice more, and let the children's own words carry the record.