Children's literacy development begins long before formal schooling, with parents and the home environment exerting important influences on the development of their children's language skills. A focus on the early years and the home learning environment of children is therefore crucial to ensure that they get the best possible foundation for their literacy skills. There is some research has shown that the pandemic and associated lockdowns have led to an increase in home learning activities (e.g. Davies et al., 2021). However it also has shown that, overall, parents engaged in fewer home learning activities in 2021 compared with the two previous years. There have likely been various reasons for changes in the home learning environment during the pandemic. Indeed, it's not far-fetched to consider the increased isolation and lack of contact and support from others leading to insecurity for parents when it comes to supporting their child in the home. With these pressures, developing a home learning environment may be of less priority to a parent. Alternatively, rather than not being a priority, some parents may have lacked the resources or time to consider alternatives to early learning engagement. Finally, stress and anxiety surrounding the pandemic may have prevented parents from engaging in activity as normal. This report synthesises information from the following sources to provide insight into the importance of the home learning environment and early language skills: (1) Existing literature; (2) Survey data of parents the National Literacy Trust commissioned from One Poll in 2019 (n = 2,000) and 2020 (n = 2,000), and Savanta ComRes in 2021 (n = 1,562); (3) Insight from the 2015 and 2021/2 evaluation of our Early Words Together programme. [This report was commissioned by Paramount as part of a partnership between the National Literacy Trust and Blue's Clues & You!.]