Thinking skills, numeracy, executive functioning, and STEM exploration.
Showing 45 resources
Educator-focused guide to embedding early numeracy into daily routines with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
NAEYC family article on weaving everyday math talk (counting, comparing, patterns) into ordinary moments with young children.
Playful parent-child math games covering the six key skill areas of early math, counting, patterns, shapes, and more.
How informal, everyday activities give children a head start on addition, subtraction, and school math readiness.
NAEYC ideas families can try at home to help preschoolers explore math concepts through sorting, counting, and everyday materials.
Practical, natural ways parents can weave math talk into daily life, research shows early math skills strongly predict later academic success.
Curated hub of family-facing math articles from NAEYC covering shape, number, measurement, and math-rich home environments.
Free research-based early-math activities from Stanford's DREME Network, designed for families with children birth to age 8.
PBS Kids parent hub for early math, activities, videos, and tips organized by age and skill.
How babies build early problem-solving, cause-and-effect, and memory, plus ways caregivers can nurture cognitive development in the first year.
Toddlers are little scientists, how to support exploration, experimentation, and thinking skills between 12 and 24 months.
Zero to Three podcast with Dr. Alison Gopnik on how very young children's brains develop and how caregivers support healthy brain growth.
Core components of early brain development plus downloadable resources for parents and educators.
How back-and-forth 'serve and return' interactions shape brain architecture, the single most important thing adults do for early cognitive development.
Practical Harvard guide showing five steps caregivers can use in daily moments to build brains through serve-and-return interactions.
Short Harvard summary of five key research numbers every caregiver and educator should know about early brain development.
Full library of briefs, videos, and guides on early brain, cognitive, and executive-function development.
Free CDC milestone checklists (2 months through 5 years) covering cognitive, language, movement, and social/emotional development.
Canadian research centre with family and clinician resources on cognitive, motor, and developmental outcomes in early childhood.
Harvard Center on the Developing Child overview of what executive function skills are, how they develop from infancy, and why they matter for lifelong learning.
Harvard's downloadable activity guide with age-banded games and routines (6–18 months, 18–36 months, 3–5 years, 5–7 years) that build executive function and self-regulation.
Short evidence-based article on the three foundational executive-function capabilities, planning, focus, and self-control, with everyday examples for caregivers.
Zero to Three explainer on how self-regulation emerges in infancy and how responsive caregiving builds the earliest executive function foundations.
Practical Zero to Three guidance on games and routines that grow attention, working memory, and impulse control in toddlers and preschoolers.
NAEYC article for educators on how executive function develops in preschoolers and how classroom routines, games, and dramatic play strengthen it.
CDC 'Learn the Signs. Act Early.' free milestone trackers and checklists covering social, cognitive, and self-regulation milestones from 2 months to 5 years.
Reading Rockets classroom-tested games that grow working memory, attention, and self-control for pre-K and kindergarten children.
Canadian research resources on how attention and executive function support daily participation in play, self-care, and early learning.
Zero to Three explainer on typical toddler attention spans and how to support longer engagement over time.
Harvard Center on the Developing Child printable of age-graded games and routines that stretch attention and working memory.
Harvard overview of the brain-based attention, working memory, and self-control skills children build in the early years.
CHADD parent hub for understanding attention differences, including early signs and supportive strategies.
NAEYC curated articles on supporting attention, working memory, and self-control in early childhood settings.
Free preschool videos, printables, and activity ideas across STEM, literacy, and social-emotional themes.
Free space and Earth science activities, crafts, and games for elementary-age kids.
Games, videos, and activities that introduce climate and Earth science.
Simple science experiments, projects, and printable activity sheets.
Free videos of actors reading picture books aloud, great for literacy-rich circle time and quiet play.
Ad-free early learning activities across phonics, reading, and math for preK–grade 1.
Stanford DREME family math resources with playful math ideas by age.
Erikson Institute foundational math ideas for young children with activity ideas.
PBS Kids for Parents playful math activities to explore counting, shapes, and patterns.
NAEYC article on integrating STEM through everyday exploration and play.
National Science Teaching Association guidance and playful activity ideas for early science.
Reading Rockets library of early literacy activities parents and educators can do at home or in programs.