Abstract In early childhood education and care (ECEC), children do not participate in the same way and to the same extent in various kinds of interactions. One of the challenges for educators is to succeed in involving every child in the proposed activities, thereby enabling them to benefit from these experiences for language acquisition. The present exploratory study was conducted through video recordings of educator-child interactions in French ECEC contexts. The analysis focused on sequences where one or more children either withdrew or stayed in the background of the ongoing activities. The sequences were categorised according to the type of activity, the educators’ language strategies, and their outcomes in terms of the children’s participation. By focusing on the role and impact of language practices, our discussion re-examines the notion of involvement/engagement, its achievements in ECEC, and the effects of the educators’ moves on child involvement.