How childcare helps your child build friendships and feel at home in a new country

Moving to a new country is a major transition for your whole family. You are busy arranging housing, paperwork, work, and school. For your child, the biggest change is personal. They face a new environment, unfamiliar faces, a different language and a new routine. In this early phase, childcare plays an important role. It is a safe place where your child builds trust, confidence and friendships. And gradually begins to feel at home.

The power of early friendships for your child

Friendship in early childhood matters just as much as it does later in life. It starts with simple things: playing side by side, laughing together, or sitting near the same child every day. These early social bonds help your child:

• Feel included and build confidence
• Learn how to share and take turns
• Recognise emotions in themselves and others
• Develop resilience in a group 

For children who have recently moved, these small connections make a massive difference. One familiar playmate makes a new environment feel much less overwhelming.

Feeling safe is the first step to making friends

Before children start making friends, they need to feel safe. A good childcare environment supports that sense of safety by offering a predictable daily rhythm, familiar faces, and a place where your child knows exactly what to expect. This structure gives your child something solid to hold on to. Once they feel emotionally secure, they explore, join in activities and connect with other children.

Friendships start earlier than you might think

Connecting with others starts much earlier than in primary school. Even babies respond to one another. They make eye contact, smile, babble and react to each other’s presence. These are the very first steps in making friends.

Toddlers and preschoolers actively seek each other out. They develop a preference for one child or enjoy doing the same activity together. Here, they practice everyday skills, like waiting for their turn, sharing toys and making up after a small argument. For older children in after-school care, shared interests and feeling part of a group play a much bigger role as they grow aware of where they fit in. 

How your child connects through play, even without words

Are you worried about the language barrier? Many parents wonder how their child communicates without speaking Dutch yet. Children connect through play long before they speak the same language. They communicate through gestures, facial expressions, and by copying each other. Running outside together or building a tall tower of blocks does not require perfect vocabulary.

Playing together is powerful when your child is settling in. It helps your child: 

• Join a group naturally
• Learn by watching others
• Pick up new words easily
• Feel part of our daily rhythm 

Play creates a connection first; language follows automatically.

Feeling at home starts with small moments

A sense of belonging grows through repetition. It blossoms in the small moments they recognise and trust. Think of a warm greeting in the morning, seeing familiar faces, laughing together or knowing exactly where to hang their coat. These moments might seem small to us, but for your child, they mean the world. They create that comforting feeling of: “I know this place, and I belong here too.”

Support in making friends

Making friends does not always happen automatically. Some children jump right into the group, while others need a little more time. This is where a natural, caring approach at childcare helps. A familiar face in the group notices when your child needs a little help to join in, encourages them to play together, helps resolve minor arguments, and creates fun moments to share. When your child feels seen and supported, they are open to others much faster.

What to look for when choosing childcare

When you choose childcare in a new country, practical things matter. But a warm, social atmosphere is just as important. A place where your child truly settles in offers familiar faces, clear daily rhythms, plenty of time to play freely and open communication with you. This ensures your child adjusts at their own pace and builds trust in their new environment.

So much more than childcare

For you, childcare might start as a practical necessity. For your child, it becomes a warm place where they find rhythm, connection, and their first real sense of belonging in a new country. Often, it is exactly where their very first friendships begin.