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Boy on slide
Boy on slide
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.

A Place to Play: Moving Towards Fairness of Place for All Children

In March 2024, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with, “A Place to Play: Moving Towards Fairness of Place for All Children,” where our panel of experts discussed how access to safe, stimulating, and joyful play space is not equally distributed and shared strategies to work toward building a future where all children have a safe place to play. In this podcast episode, we share a portion of that webinar, exploring how play and access to safe green spaces support early development.

In March 2024, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with, “A Place to Play: Moving Towards Fairness of Place for All Children,” where our panel of experts discussed how access to safe, stimulating, and joyful play space is not equally distributed and shared strategies to work toward building a future where all children have a safe place to play. In this podcast episode, we share a portion of that webinar, exploring how play and access to safe green spaces support early development.

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 Working Paper 1 from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, which explores the implications of rising global temperatures on early childhood development and lifelong health.

Working Paper 17
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Check Out the Latest from the Center

Extreme Heat & Early Childhood Development

Dr. Burghardt and Dr. Nadeau share strategies to reduce exposure to heat to support children’s healthy development and well-being, and to ensure all children have access to safe places to grow, learn, and play in our changing climate. They also explore the intersection of heat and health equity in the United States.

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April 2024 Newsletter

In this month’s newsletter, learn more about our webinar: Extreme Heat & Early Childhood Development. Also find additional ways to support early childhood development this Earth Day!

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