🏳️Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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Our mission is to leverage the power of science in pursuit of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity.

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Featured Resources

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Working Paper A Cascade of Impacts: The Many Ways Water Affects Child Development

Water is essential for life. The brain, heart, kidneys, and lungs require continued hydration to function, and our bodies need water for digestion, nutrient…

[Read Working Paper](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/working-paper/water-affects-child-development/)

June 25, 2024

Policy Insight Solutions Spotlight | A Cascade of Impacts: The Many Ways Water Affects Child Development

[Explore Solution Spotlight](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/policy-insights/water-affects-child-development-solution-spotlight/)

September 13, 2024

Brief Growing Up in a Warming World: How Wildfire Smoke Affects Early Childhood Development

In our new Brief, learn how wildfire smoke impacts children’s development and health and how we can all help enact and advocate for existing solutions.

[View Brief](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/briefs/wildfire-smoke-early-childhood-development/)

January 27, 2025

> The mission of the Center on the Developing Child is to leverage the power of science in pursuit of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity.

[Learn More](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/about-us/mission-vision/)

Key Concepts in Early Childhood Development

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Learn about six key scientific concepts that shape early development and lifelong health.

Select a concept

*   [Brain Architecture](#tab_343)

*   [Serve and Return](#tab_342)

*   [Toxic Stress](#tab_1460) 

*   [Lifelong Health and Well-being](#tab_1461)  

*   [Timing and Critical Periods](#tab_1462)

*   [Developmental Environments](#tab_1463)

### Brains are built over time, from the bottom up, through an ongoing process that begins before birth.

Learn how early experiences shape brain architecture—and all our developing biological systems—which provide the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.

[Brain Architecture](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/brain-architecture/)

### Responsive, attentive interactions between a child and a caring adult, known as serve and return interactions, shape brain architecture.

Learn how these interactions form a critical part of a child’s environment of relationships and impact development and lifelong health.  

[Serve and Return](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/serve-and-return/)

### Toxic stress—the excessive or prolonged activation of our stress response systems—can disrupt the development of brain architecture and other biological systems.

Learn how safe, stable developmental environments, including responsive relationships with caring adults, can help buffer against sources of stress, supporting early development and lifelong health. 

[Toxic Stress](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/toxic-stress/) 

### Our earliest experiences and exposures, beginning well before birth, shape the development of brain architecture and other biological systems in interconnected ways.

Learn more about how these systems adapt to children’s developmental environments—for better or worse—with potential lifelong impacts on health and well-being.

[Lifelong Health and Well-being](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/lifelong-health/)  

### Our biological sensitivity to environmental influences varies throughout life, making the timing of those influences particularly important. 

Learn how the timing of young children’s experiences and exposures interact with their gene expression, with lifelong impacts on their health and well-being. 

[Timing and Critical Periods](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/timing-and-critical-periods/)

### The developmental environment includes the full range of experiences and exposures children have in the places where they live, learn, play, and grow.  

Learn how environmental influences shape children’s learning, health, and well-being and how climate change and systemic racism are affecting developmental environments.  

[Developmental Environments](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/developmental-environments/)

Resource Library

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Our Resource Library offers science-based materials on various topics in early childhood development, including everything from toxic stress to the impacts of extreme heat. You can browse by topic, filter by format, or search for specific resources.

[Browse the Resource Library](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-library/)

*   [Podcast](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/podcasts/)

    [The Brain Architects Podcast: Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development – Working Toward Fairness of Place in the United States](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/podcasts/the-brain-architects-podcast-understanding-racisms-impact-on-child-development-working-toward-fairness-of-place-in-the-united-states-united-states/)

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    **Topics:** Racism

    February 15, 2024

*   [Infographic](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/infographics/)

    [Place Matters: What Surrounds Us Shapes Us](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/infographics/place-matters-what-surrounds-us-shapes-us/)

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    **Topics:** Brain Architecture, Lifelong Health and Wellbeing, Racism

    March 25, 2023

*   [Webinar](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/webinars/)

    [A Cascade of Impacts: A Discussion on the Many Ways Water Affects Early Childhood](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/webinars/cascade-of-impacts-discussion/)

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    **Topics:** Developmental Environments, Water

    October 9, 2024

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