Healthy Child Development

Here in our child development section we have researched everything parents need to know to raise a healthy and happy child.  Check out some of our articles on how children can learn from cooking, choosing toys, the magic of art, the importance of playtime, and why child chores teach responsibility.  Start reading now to start your child on the path to a healthy development.

Child Development

As a mother feeds her child, she gazes lovingly into his eyes. A father talks gently to his newborn daughter as he changes her diaper. A caregiver sings a child to sleep.

These everyday moments, these simple, loving encounters, provide essential nourishment. Just as their bodies need food to grow, science now tells us that the positive emotional, physical and intellectual experiences that a baby has in the earliest years are equally necessary for the growth of a healthy brain.

The brain is the part of the body that allows us to feel joy or despair, to respond to others in a loving or angry way, to use reason or simply to react. These capabilities don't just magically appear - they result from the interplay between a child's heredity and the experiences he or she has during childhood.

Research in brain development and school readiness suggests the following ten guidelines that can help parents and other caregivers raise healthy, happy children and confident, competent learners:

   1. Be warm, loving and responsive
   2. Respond to the child's cues and clues
   3. Talk, read and sing to your child
   4. Establish routines and rituals
   5. Encourage safe exploration and play
   6. Make TV watching selective
   7. Use discipline as an opportunity to teach
   8. Recognize that each child is unique
   9. Choose quality child care and stay involved
  10. Take care of yourself.

Source: Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations

Positive Child Development

Learn more about Child Development and get the information you need to help ensure the healthy growth of your child.  Find out which toys are best, how children learn from cooking, why is art magical, why playtime is important, and why your participation as a parent matters.