Welcome to Ted Talk Thursdays, where every other Thursday we will share an interesting Ted Talk about research in the world of child development! We are excited to add this on to our blog and hope that you get the chance to learn something new about your young ones. (for Facebook): Feel free to share and comment thoughts about each talk and open up the discussion to other parents.

This week’s Ted Talk Thursday dives into Molly Wright’s presentation on the importance of parental connection within the first five years of a child’s life. Child development is affected in multiple ways and various factors including community, playing, talking, connecting, and having a healthy home environment. While a child can develop these skills with their peers, it is just as important for a parent to have the same level of connections, talking, and play time.

There are multiple different strategies to enforce these connections; serve and return, vocabulary and copycat names, and even peek-a-boo all help a child develop within the first 5 years successfully. Yes, these are important strategies to help your child, but what is most important is being present with your child. Your child is seeking those connections with you, and just as Molly describes in her talk, being present makes even more of a difference within your child’s first five years.

Watch the full Ted Talk here!

Mikayla Clemens

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

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