Happy 2024! A new year begins and it is time for balance and projections. That is why the Editorial Board of Primeros Pasos asked ourselves: what are our wishes for children around the world in 2024? This led us to reflect on what children need to grow up healthy and happy.
What are the keys to fostering their development? How can we stimulate their learning? We invite you to this reflection and also to add your wishes for childhood.
Children Need to Receive Affection and to Be Able to Play
Expressions of affection are essential for children’s development. From the first moment of life, skin-to-skin contact between the newborn and its mother is key to a better adaptation of the baby to its new environment and generates physical and psychological benefits in the short and long term.
Later on, the different bonds that children maintain with their caregivers, whether parents or educators, will be fundamental in shaping the foundations of their socioemotional development. Social-emotional development involves the child’s ability to identify, understand and manage his or her feelings and emotions, understand the emotional state of others, develop empathy and establish relationships, among other key aspects for life in society.
In addition, to foster learning, it is essential for children to be able to play. Play is not just a source of fun: it is the way they learn and make sense of the world around them, while strengthening their neural connections, learning to solve problems and cope with stressful situations, and even acquiring tools to take care of their mental health. By participating in the child’s play, the adult caregiver helps them build the basic toolbox they will need to develop their creativity and arrive at school better prepared. In addition, by playing with a loving caregiver, the child will enjoy the game twice as much!
Children Need to Live in a Safe Environment
A safe and stable environment is essential for children’s well-being, as it creates optimal conditions for their physical, cognitive and socioemotional development. When we talk about safety, we refer to multiple dimensions: having a home that protects against cold and rain, is free from violence—both physical and psychological—and ensuring children do not go hungry or face exposure to armed conflicts or forced displacement. Even the conditions of the neighborhood where a child lives are crucial in determining their health and life expectancy.
Building safe environments is a fundamental requirement for fostering expressions of affection and play. Early childhood centers are spaces of care where children can continue being children, even in the face of diversity. While they are primarily spaces for play and learning, they also often serve as hubs for social protection, providing access to health services—physical, mental, and emotional—and nutrition. Furthermore, they enable mothers to dedicate the time they usually spend on caregiving to working outside the home, contributing to family income and stability.
Children Need Nutrition that Fuels Their Brains
In the first months of life, the nourishment babies need is found in breast milk. It adapts to each baby and contains bioactive components that protect them in a way that formula milk cannot match. That is why it is key to protect, promote and support breastfeeding–exclusively in the first 6 months– to make it a reality for all children.
Starting at six months, it’s important to gradually introduce solid foods with high nutritional value. It’s not enough for these foods to be caloric; they must also provide nutrients like calcium, iron, vitamins, and zinc, which are crucial for brain and physical development as well as disease prevention. As adults, it is important that we teach them proper habits such as choosing healthy foods over ultra-processed ones, both inside and outside the home.
In a region as unequal as Latin America and the Caribbean, and in a world facing as many conflicts as the ones we are currently going through, there is no time to lose: since you started reading this blog, approximately 300 children have been born around the world!
For all these reasons, our wishes for this year are: that children everywhere can enjoy their childhood with love, play, and learning; that they can live safely and free from risks; and that they have access to quality food to grow up healthy and strong. These are all essential for them to reach their developmental potential and lead happy lives. With this motivation, we will continue working in 2024 through Primeros Pasos.
Now, tell us: What are your wishes for children in 2024? Leave us a comment!
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