Key points

In a new study, children who played alone with familiar objects were building belonging.

Seventy-three percent of first-year students found familiarity with daily routines important for belonging.

Some children felt they belonged simply by seeing their teacher while others required active engagement.

Co-authored by Kelly-Ann Allen, Ph.D., and Cassie Hudson

A member of our research team handed a five-year-old a crayon and asked her to draw what makes her feel like she belongs at school. She drew herself surrounded by Lego blocks. "I feel like I belong to school when I am playing Lego," she wrote.

This wasn't what we expected in our latest study . After analyzing drawings and conversations with 108 children in their first year of school across Melbourne, our research tea

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