News

August 6, 2025

Harvard University Report Examines Relationship Between Place, Race, and Early Childhood Development

Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child has released a new resource that examines the relationship between place, race, and early childhood development.

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The report, released in late June, noted that over the past 20 years the American public’s understanding of early childhood development has evolved and that, today, people have a general understanding of the negative impacts of significant adversity. As a result, they tend to appreciate the power of supportive relationships in building and protecting the developing brain.

But, the report notes, there is still work to do when it comes to the impacts of our broader environments on children’s development, especially considering that these environments are shaped by racism.

According to the Center on the Developing Child’s research, the American public does not readily connect the concepts of place, race, and early childhood development. The center identified a strategy for talking about the connections between these three things and provided a set of recommendations for advancing the strategy in early childhood educational settings.

The report includes:

The main ideas that the new framing strategy is designed to communicate – for example, racism affects how we design place and creates unequal impacts on children
The primary ways of thinking Americans rely upon when thinking about child development, place, and racism – for example, the idea that families alone influence children’s development
Four types of frames that can be used to advance greater understanding of the connection between place, racism, and development – values, narratives, explanatory examples, and metonyms

More information on the Center on the Developing Child’s research can be found in an accompanying toolkit.

News

July 9, 2025

Webinar to Focus on How Extreme Heat Can Affect Young Children

Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child will host a webinar on how extreme summer heat can affect young children.

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Excess heat can affect young children’s development and health both in the moment of contact and across their lifespan. Putting together strategies to reduce exposure to extreme heat benefits children and their caregivers.

The Center for the Developing Child will host a live conversation, Addressing the Impact of Extreme Heat on Young Children, at 1 p.m. on July 17. The webinar will explore how communities are working to reduce the effects of extreme heat on early childhood development.

The discussion will be led by Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, the center’s science officer and founding director of the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment.

Panelists will include Michelle Kang, chief executive officer of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and Jennifer Vanos, associate professor in the School of Sustainability and the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. They will share strategies to protect children from extreme heat, support caregivers, and ensure the healthy development of all children.

Those interested in attending the webinar should register on the Center on the Developing Child.

News

December 2, 2024

Harvard University Podcast Focuses on Building Resilience Through Play

Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child recently hosted a podcast on the importance of resilience and how play can help to build it.

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According to the Center on the Developing Child, play helps to create sturdy brain architecture and contributes to the foundations of lifelong health. It is also an important building block for resilience.

In the podcast, Dr. Jack Shonkoff explains the role of play in supporting resilience and five experts discuss ideas and personal stories. The discussion revolves around applying the science of play in homes, communities, and crisis environments around the world.

Panelists include professors, directors, and researchers from the University of California Irvine’s School of Education, Institute for Museum and Library Services, Harvard Graduate School of Education, BRAC Institute of Educational Development, and Harvard Medical School’s Cambridge Hospital.

The podcast is coupled with a variety of resources – including those focused on play in humanitarian settings and information on how to prevent childhood toxic stress. Both the podcast and its transcript are available on the Center on the Developing Child’s website.

News

September 10, 2024

Harvard University Center Releases New Science X Design Learning Toolkit

Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child has released a new learning toolkit for Science X Design users.

About Science X Design

Science X Design is an open-access, self-paced learning module that is designed to help service providers improve outcomes for young children and their caregivers.

Pronounced “science by design,” the toolkit aims to empower service providers in such fields as healthcare, education, and child welfare. It helps to identify new opportunities to improve services in these fields.

The toolkit also offers curated information on three design principles informed by the science of early childhood development and guides users in gathering input from the people involved in services.

Through an interactive learning, listening, and synthesis process, users can identify opportunities to adapt early childhood programs to support the healthy development of young children and their caregivers.

The module takes about four to six weeks to complete and was designed to be completed as a team.

A course overview and information on who should participate in the module can be found on Harvard’s website as well as information on how long it will take and what outcomes to expect.