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Handout
Caregiver Handouts: Games and Activities that Build Brains and Executive Function Skills
Here you’ll find handouts with suggestions for games and activities to do with children of different ages. They can be shared at well child visits or when caregivers are looking for support with behavior. These activities can promote child-caregiver bonding, executive function skills, and build children’s brains through play.
![Caregiver Handouts: Games and Activities that Build Brains and Executive Function Skills](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/iStock-toddlerchore1.jpg)
![Staying Active for Caregivers Handout](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/iStock-stayingactive.jpg)
![Value of Routines for Caregivers Handout](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/iStock-routine.jpg)
![100 Ways to Bond with your Child Handout](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/larry-crayton-hOiDpAZ8Pok-unsplash-scaled.jpg)
![Positive Parenting Handout](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AdobeStock_328877754-scaled.jpg)
Handout
Early Brain and Child Development 101: Why Peekaboo Matters
For Medical Students and Residents In medical school, we learn the science behind health and disease. How do nephrons filter blood that runs through the network of capillaries in the glomerulus, and what disease occurs when that process goes awry? How do myocytes conduct electricity, and how do aberrations in…
![Early Brain and Child Development 101: Why Peekaboo Matters](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/gettyimages-1142551892-scaled.jpg)
Reading
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
Increasing attention is being placed in the medical and public space on the mental health of infants and young children. Among mental health providers, infant mental health generally refers to children 3 years of age and younger, while early childhood mental health refers to children ages 3-5. This contrasts…
![Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-reading.jpg)
Third Party Link
How to Motivate Children: Science-Based Approaches for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers
How to Motivate Children: Science-Based Approaches for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers…
![How to Motivate Children: Science-Based Approaches for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image-1.jpg)
Third Party Link
A Guide to Serve and Return: How Your Interaction with Children Can Build Brains
This page contains a collection of resources about the concept of “serve and return” interactions. It includes an introduction to the basics of serve and return and the science behind it and includes videos that can be shared with caregivers about how serve and return interactions build brains. For…
![A Guide to Serve and Return: How Your Interaction with Children Can Build Brains](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image-1.jpg)
![Key Concepts: Brain Architecture](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
![Building Core Capabilities for Life](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-reading.jpg)
Third Party Link
Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes: A Theory of Change
Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes: A Theory of Change…
![Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes: A Theory of Change](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
Brief
InBrief: The Foundations of Lifelong Health
This brief summarizes essential scientific findings from the Center publications, “The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood”.
![InBrief: The Foundations of Lifelong Health](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-brief.jpg)
Reading
The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early ChildhoodÂ
This report from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs explains how the earliest years lay the groundwork for lifelong health. When children have positive early experiences, they strengthen their developing biological systems and are more likely to thrive and become…
![The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early ChildhoodÂ](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-reading.jpg)
![InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-brief.jpg)
![InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-brief.jpg)
Third Party Link
Establishing a Level Foundation for Life: Mental Health Begins in Early Childhood
Establishing a Level Foundation for Life: Mental Health Begins in Early Childhood…
![Establishing a Level Foundation for Life: Mental Health Begins in Early Childhood](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
![Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP1.jpg)
![Children’s Emotional Development is Built into the Architecture of their Brain](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP2.jpg)
![Early Exposure to Toxic Substances Damages Brain ArchitectureÂ](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP4.jpg)
![The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP5.jpg)
![Early Experiences Can Alter Gene Expression and Affect Long-Term Development](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP10.jpg)
Working Paper
Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined
![Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/WP15.jpg)
Third Party Link
Building Babies’ Brains Through Play: Mini Parenting Master Class
Building Babies’ Brains Through Play: Mini Parenting Master Class…
![Building Babies’ Brains Through Play: Mini Parenting Master Class](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image-1.jpg)
![Experiences Build Brain Architecture](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
Third Party Link
Stress and Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It
Stress and Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It…
![Stress and Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image-1.jpg)
![Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image-1.jpg)
![How Children and Adults Can Build Core Capabilities for Life](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Screen-Shot-2022-03-16-at-5.43.49-PM.jpg)
![InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-brief.jpg)
![FrameWorks: Framing Early Relational Health](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
![8 Things to Remember about Child Development](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/iStock-childdevelopment.jpg)
![FrameWorks: Framing How Brains are Built](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Image.jpg)
![5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)
![What We Can Do About Toxic Stress](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)
![What Is Inflammation? And Why Does It Matter for Child Development?](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)
![How Racism Can Affect Child Development](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)
![Epigenetics and Child Development: How Children’s Experiences Affect their Genes](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-teal-infographics.jpg)
![ACEs and Toxic Stress: Frequently Asked Questions](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)
![What is Executive Function? And How Does it Relate to Child Development?](https://pediatrics.developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/icon-purple-infographics.jpg)