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march 24 newsletter

March 2024

March 2024

In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing a variety of resources related to a child’s social environment, including the importance of “serve and return” interactions and the power of play. Also watch our latest webinar, A Place to Play: Working Towards Fairness of Place for All Children.

In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing a variety of resources related to a child’s social environment, including the importance of “serve and return” interactions and the power of play. Also watch our latest webinar, A Place to Play: Working Towards Fairness of Place for All Children.

A Healthy Childhood in a Changing Climate

The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Askwith Education Forum recently brought together early childhood & health experts – including the Center’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, and education & public health advocate, Chelsea Clinton – for a conversation on the impacts of environmental change on early childhood development. Learn more about actions to respond to, mitigate & lessen the effects of climate change and help ensure all children can get a healthy start
Photo: Jill Anderson, courtesy of HGSE.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Askwith Education Forum recently brought together early childhood & health experts – including the Center’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, and education & public health advocate, Chelsea Clinton – for a conversation on the impacts of environmental change on early childhood development. Learn more about actions to respond to, mitigate & lessen the effects of climate change and help ensure all children can get a healthy start
Photo: Jill Anderson, courtesy of HGSE.

The Brain Architects: A New Lens on Poverty

In this episode of the Brain Architects Podcast, dive into the conversation from our recent webinar featuring Stephanie Curenton, PhD, Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Mavis Sanders, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD. They explore how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn.

In this episode of the Brain Architects Podcast, dive into the conversation from our recent webinar featuring Stephanie Curenton, PhD, Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Mavis Sanders, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD. They explore how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn.

Webinar-A place to play

Play and access to safe green spaces – like parks and playgrounds – support a child’s healthy growth and development. Yet access to safe, stimulating, and joyful play space is not equally distributed. Structural forces, such as zoning regulations and funding gaps, have led to inequitable access to quality play spaces in communities across the US.

Panelists share examples of community-led solutions to address gaps in play space equity, as well as discuss what still needs to be done to ensure our built environments support child development and lifelong health.

Play and access to safe green spaces – like parks and playgrounds – support a child’s healthy growth and development. Yet access to safe, stimulating, and joyful play space is not equally distributed. Structural forces, such as zoning regulations and funding gaps, have led to inequitable access to quality play spaces in communities across the US.

Panelists share examples of community-led solutions to address gaps in play space equity, as well as discuss what still needs to be done to ensure our built environments support child development and lifelong health.

Brain-Building Through Play

The following handout series, developed with support from the LEGO Foundation, provides suggestions for games and play-based activities based on a child’s age. The activities for younger children are designed for adults to engage in with children. Activities for later ages allow the adults to step back, enabling children’s independence to blossom as they transition to playing more often with peers.

Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health

Read the first working paper from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment. Following a year of record-setting heat, this paper explores the implications of rising global temperatures on early childhood development and lifelong health.

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Reaching for Breakthroughs with Science-Based Innovation

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The science of early childhood is a source of new ideas that could be used to develop more effective policies & services focused on the early years of life.

Browse Key Concepts | Browse Deep Dives

Learn more and browse all of Science
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Using current best practices as a starting point, the Center works with a network of fellow change agents to design, implement, and evaluate innovative, science-based practice models that achieve transformational change for vulnerable children and families.

Our Innovation Model | Innovation in Action

Learn more about Innovation & Application
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Innovation does not happen in a vacuum. To bring about lasting, population-level change for children facing adversity, we must foster a movement of collective change.

Browse Key Concepts | Learning Communities in Action

Learn more about Collective Change