Early Childhood Mental Health VA

08/08/2026

Neural Nugget: Between 0–3 years old, a child’s brain forms over 1 million neural connections per second. This time in life is the most pivotal, and also the most vulnerable for brain development. Early experiences shape cognitive development in early childhood.

We’ve made the science of baby brain development accessible for all. The Baby Brain Map is your interactive guide to early brain science. Start exploring now and help lay the foundation for healthy growth: https://bit.ly/4w3j4jg

08/03/2026

Learning Through Play
The LEGO Foundation’s Learning Through Play online resources provide a number of research studies showing how play lays the foundation for brain development and supports children’s learning in domains such as language and literacy, social emotional skills and math. Multiple resources are also available in Spanish

Play is how children thrive. In our paper 'Learning Through Play: a review of the evidence' we look at the science behind the power of play - showing how it helps children pick up the skills to take on the 21st century

07/28/2026

How Does Trauma Impact Emerging Self-Regulation in Young Children?
One critical area of development emerging in early childhood is self-regulation. Self-regulation has been described in terms of behavior, cognition, and emotion regulation, which are key to school readiness, academic success, behavioral regulation, attention regulation, and other cognitive, behavioral, and emotional processes. This well-documented article discusses the development of self-regulation and some factors that can shape that process.

Early childhood experiences and exposures set the foundation for long-term outcomes across multiple domains of influence

07/27/2026

Early Intervention (EI) Improves Childhood Academic Outcomes
A first-of-its-kind study has found that early intervention services — including occupational, physical, and speech therapies, among others — improve children’s test scores, even years later. The study, Early Intervention Developmental Programming and Childhood Academic Outcomes, conducted jointly by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the New York City Health Department, showed that children who received services between birth and age 3 outperformed peers of similar age on third-grade reading and math tests. These findings suggest that an EI program may offer tangible academic benefits for children with moderate to severe developmental delays or disabilities.

This cohort study assesses the association between receipt of early intervention services via the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and subsequent academic achievement among children in New York City who have developmental delays or disabilities.

07/20/2026

5 Easy Tips to Encourage a Toddler’s Communication Development
This blog post, written by a speech-language pathologist and parent, offers ideas to encourage and help language and speech development for toddlers.

NAPA offers world-renowned speech therapy for toddlers. In this blog, we share 5 tips to help with speech development. Learn more!

07/15/2026

Babies May Share Adults' Sense of Beauty
Humans tend to be captured by things around them that they perceive as pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing. This "sense of beauty" has been widely studied extensively, and recent findings suggest that humans develop a basic sense of beauty in the earliest stages of life and that this sense gradually develops over time.

Humans tend to be captured by things around them that they perceive as pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing. This "sense of beauty" has been widely studied extensively, mostly in experiments that involved adult participants.

07/14/2026

Tiny Hands, Big Clues: How Babies Learn to Help Their Caregivers
Does your infant put their arm through their sleeve when you get them dressed? As you sort laundry, does your toddler pick up the shorts you dropped? These are examples of how infants help by participating in shared activities. As infants approach their first birthday, helping becomes evident in the context of shared chores and interactive routines with their caregivers or retrieving an out-of-reach object for an unfamiliar adult. This article shares recent research about how those skills unfold.

Does your infant put their arm through their sleeve when you get them dressed? As you sort laundry, does your toddler pick up the shorts you dropped? These are examples of how infants help by participating in shared activities. As infants approach their first birthday, helping becomes evident in the...

07/08/2026

Many Ways to Play with Toddlers
You probably learn new things through a mix of instruction and exploring on your own. The exact same is true of toddlers. The best way for them to learn more about the world and develop new skills is by enjoying a good mix of structured and unstructured play.

Find out how structured play activities can benefit your toddler and discover some great ideas to help you get started having fun with your little one

07/07/2026

We are excited to share a new free resource with you, designed for families and early care professionals! Just Ask connects families and early childhood professionals with trusted guidance, information, and resources for children 0-7. This free resource is available 24/7. Support is just a call or click away! Get support now by clicking here: https://justask.partnership.vcu.edu/