Adapted from Calgary Reads
Science confirms that serve and return interactions help build and develop a young child’s brain. Imagine a tennis match between you as a caregiver and your child, but instead of smashing a ball back and forth over a tennis net, you’re passing various forms of communication between you! From eye contact, touch, singing, to simple games like ‘peek-a-boo’… these interactions, when repeated through a young person’s early life, are the bricks that lay a solid and healthy foundation for all future development.
So, what are some ways you can build that foundation?
- Read every day to your children, for at least fifteen minutes, and make it as joyful an experience as you can! Books are one of the most powerful ways to make serve-and-return interactions.
- Talk all day and have as many conversations as you can with your child. The back-and-forth of conversation is what helps our children grow as learners.
- Sing and encourage chanting, rhyming, and movement to help strengthen brain connections. Music lights up so many different parts of the brain at the same time!
- Play together in any moment and every moment that you can. Play is our brains’ favourite way to learn and helps knowledge stick in our memories.
- Love your child and express that bond in every way you can. Your relationship with your child is one of the best resources they have as learners.
Coalitions Collaborating for Impact (CCI) consists of parents, community members, organizations and professionals who are all working together to better the lives of young children and their families.
