Child Development External Resources
Classroom Design for Emotional Regulation
When designed with intention, your program space can quietly support children’s emotional regulation, independence, and sense of safety. This article explores practical ways layout, lighting, and sensory choices can help young children feel calm, grounded, and ready to learn.
NEW! Beyond Towers: The Hidden Math in Block Play
For our final "Spring Series" release, we are featuring Carla Ward, one of our most requested conference speakers. In this 1-hour recorded webinar, Carla dives into how something as simple as block play builds foundational mathematical confidence in young newcomer children. Click Here to Watch Math in Early Childhood: Supporting Early Math Development Through Block Play
Free E-Book: An Educator’s Guide to a Whole-Child Approach
Whole-child learning goes beyond a simple idea—it supports every child’s growth by celebrating strengths, personalizing instruction, and reducing challenging behaviors. This approach can help us create spaces where all children can thrive. Explore what it means, why it works, and how to apply it in this e-book.
Ages & Stages: Caregiver’s Guide to Supporting Children’s Racial Learning
Every child is learning about race, starting in their earliest months of life. What they learn, when, and how they make sense of it, depends on the messages they get from caregivers, communities, and the world around them. The Ages & Stages Guide brings together the latest research on children’s racial development from infancy through early adolescence, when caregivers have the most impact. It outlines: What kids notice at different ages; how racial learning unfolds over time; and practical steps caregivers can take to support healthy, affirming conversations and action.
Webinar: “Good Job” Isn’t Good Enough: Real Tools to Replace Praise, Rewards, and Punishment
Praise, rewards, and punishment are everywhere in early education—but are they helping or harming our efforts to create inclusive, connected classrooms? This insight-building webinar bridges what we know from brain science with what we experience in real-life classrooms. In it, participants have the opportunity to explore how co-regulation, awareness, and intention can replace outdated behavior management systems like sticker charts, prize boxes, and empty praise.
Nouveaux webinaires pour éducateurs et éducatrices francophones
Découvrez une série de trois ateliers présentée par l’ECCDC et animée par Hélène Pouliot-Cleare, pour enrichir vos pratiques en éducation à la petite enfance : apprentissage en plein air, communication avec les parents et compréhension du comportement des enfants. Inscrivez-vous ici.
Let’s Get Kids Active Every Day!
Canadian kids aged four and under are spending too much time in front of screens. To encourage healthy growth and development, young children need parents and caregivers to encourage an active lifestyle with a healthy balance of rest and physical activity. Children should be participating in a variety of safe, fun, developmentally appropriate, play-based physical activities in different environments every day! Following these Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines through the early years is associated with better growth, health and well-being.
The Best Kids’ Books on Mental Health
Each year, it seems that there are new children’s books that address every emotional or learning challenge. But how appropriate and helpful is the messaging? Experts at the Child Mind Institute reviewed over 60 books to choose this top 20 list of kids' books on mental health.
WEBINAR: How To Talk with Infants and Toddlers
How do babies turn your words into meaning, connection, and learning? In this webinar, participants will learn 10 intentional communication strategies and script starters to strengthen relationships, promote emotional regulation, and spark early learning—all through meaningful, developmentally rich conversations.
What Surrounds Us Shapes Us
Children's development is significantly influenced by their surroundings, encompassing both positive and negative experiences within their living, growing, playing, and learning environments. This includes factors such as access to safe housing, clean water, and green spaces, which not only provide play areas but also support the mental health of children and caregivers.These environmental influences directly and indirectly shape a child's development from birth, impacting their caregivers, communities, and broader relationships. Centre on the Developing Child, Harvard University has developed this Expanded Story of Early Child Development. At the bottom of this brief, you can also find explanations of key concept and resource guides on topics like: Developmental Environments, Toxic Stress, Brain Architecture, and Serve and Return.