Child Development
Offers foundational content on milestones and developmental domains, accompanied by practical tools—like observation guides, articles, and developmental monitoring strategies—to support developmental tracking and referral.
Key Concepts
Children with Special Needs
- Wisconsin First Step
- Family Voices of Wisconsin
- What are the signs of autism?
- Adapting Activities & Materials for Young Children with Disabilities (PDF)
- Do2Learn
- Child Neurology Foundation
- Helping Your Child with Autism Thrive
Language Development
- 12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers
- Resources for Home-Based Practitioners
- Storyline Online
Prevent Blindness Wisconsin
Recommended Readings
Articles
- Screening for Social Emotional Concerns: Considerations in the Selection of Instruments
- How kids’ screen-time guidelines came about—and how to enforce them
- Promoting Brain Development Through Play and Nurture
- What Babies Understand about Adult Sadness
- Strength-based parenting improves children’s resilience and stress levels
- The Science of Resilience – Why some children can thrive despite adversity
- Why maternal mental health matters: early childhood development
- How Anxiety Leads to Disruptive Behavior
- What Poverty Does to the Young Brain
- How to Prevent Mental Health Problems? Begin at the Beginning With Infants and Toddlers
- The Difference Between Tantrums and Sensory Meltdowns
- The Neuroscience of Calming a Baby
- What Your Baby Can’t Tell You
- Infants create new knowledge while sleeping
- Infant temperaments may reflect parents’ cultural values
- Some Early Childhood Experiences Shape Adult Life, But Which Ones?
- The scientific evidence against spanking, timeouts, and sleep training
- Boy toddlers need extra help dealing with negative emotions
- Helping Your Child’s Speech and Language
- How raising kids within routines boosts social and emotional health
- Understanding the Relation Between Temperament and Behavior
- Family Engagement and School Readiness Series
- How Supportive Parenting Protects the Brain
- Benefits of bilingual children
- Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Policies and Practices to Foster the Social-Emotional Development of Young Children ,provides an overview of early childhood mental health consultation, current issues in the field and possible future directions. The brief also provides a snapshot of current programs across the nation and highlights some of the challenges and innovations that are shaping the field. (Zero to Three)
- Seeing the Importance of Vision Development, research-to-policy article from the Urban Child Institute.
- “Baby’s Vision development: What to Expect the First Year” from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Resources & Tools
Fact Sheets
- Developmental screening information and fact sheet
- Social-emotional development for infants and toddlers
- Social-emotional development for infants and toddlers (peer behavior)
- HHS SED Milestones (PDF)
- HHS SED Research Background (PDF)
- HHS SED Tips for Early Childhood Teachers and Providers (PDF)
- HHS SED Tips for Families (PDF)
- Kids in the Monitoring Zone: What to Do Next (ASQ)
- Screening and Assessment in Early Childhood Settings (infographic) ,There can be some confusion about the difference between screening and assessment in early childhood settings. This infographic helps illustrate key characteristics for each type of tool.
Tools
- Well-Visit Planner
Generates a personalized list of questions/topics for your child’s next well-visit (ages 4 months–6 years).
Resources to Share
- Prevent Blindness Wisconsin fact sheets
- Preventative Pediatric Health Care Chart (PDF)
- Bright Futures Guidelines & Materials
- Feelings Poster (PDF)
- 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return (PDF)
- Kids in the monitoring zone
- Just in Time Parenting newsletters
- Articles for Families on Play
- Power of Play: Building Skills and Having Fun
- Sensory Activities 0–18 Months
- Preschooler Creative Activities
- The Expectation Gap
- Articles for Families on Behavior and Development
- An Activity Book for African American Families (coping with crisis)
Resource Guides
Videos & Media
Videos
- Delighting in Writing (CELL)
- Serve and Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry
- 6 Core Strengths for Child Development
- Love, a Low-Tech Solution (TEDx)
- Why is it Important to Comfort Your Child?
- Developmental Screening, Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
- 5 Tips for Brain-Building Serve and Return
- Early Recognition of Child Development Problems
- Early Signs of Autism Video Tutorial
- Brain Builders (First Five Years Fund)
Websites & Portals
Apps and Activities
- Milestone Tracker Mobile App, Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun!
- Text4Baby. The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition supports Text4baby, a free mobile text messaging service that provides moms-to-be, new moms and family members with information to help them care for themselves and their baby throughout pregnancy and the baby’s first year.
- Vroom This practical app helps parents to help their babies brains grow during their regular daily routines! Using the science of early learning, this app acknowledges parents as their child’s #1 brain builder, helping turn ordinary or fussy times into fun shared moments.
- Sesame Street Fun Games for Kids Parents can use these free online educational games, videos and coloring activities for preschoolers.
- Sesame Streets’ Healthy Habits for Life – We Have the Moves, This resource contains fun-filled activities to help build physical activity into everyday moments. Parents will find physical activities that require minimal time and equipment; activities for both large and small spaces and groups; fun and easy ways to add more active play into everyday routines; and ways to link movement to different developmental areas.
- Bright by Text Parents receive free, timely Bright by Three age-appropriate activities, games and resources in English or Spanish.
- Love, Talk, Read, Sing, Play Provides information for parents to support their child’s development in diverse ways. The app is available in English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese or Nepali.
- Kinedu Offers 1,600 activity ideas for baby’s development, 0 – 4 years.
- Parents Magazine Educational Games for elementary school children.
- Breathe, Think, Do mindfulness app from Sesame Street. This free app helps teach young children, ages 2 – 5, problem-solving, self-control, planning and task persistence. Available for iOS and Android
- Calm free meditation app focuses on meditation, relaxation and sleep. Their “sleep stories” function tells tales to help users fall asleep easier. There’s also a section for “Calm Kids” that parents may enjoy, as well! Available for iOS and Android
- Activities for Babies on Pinterest
- Preschool Games on Pinterest
- ASQ activities
Online Training
- The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Women, Infants, and Children Program site provides an online training course on anthropometrics: weighing, measuring, and interpreting measurement results.
- The Association of Maternal Child Health Programs’ Communicating the Value of Developmental Screening for professionals working directly with families and Title V leaders and other stakeholders to articulate the value of developmental screening.
Websites
- The Power of Connection
- When Feelings Overwhelm: How to Help a Child
- Wisconsin Newborn Screening
- Wisconsin Sound Beginnings (hearing)
- Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards
- Learn the Signs, Act Early (CDC)
- Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin
- CDC Child Development Resources
- CDC’s Act Early Milestones
- The ABC’s of Child Development (PBS)
- Center on the Developing Child (Harvard)
- Children’s Developmental Screening and Health Resources – Milwaukee Health Department Strong Baby Program – Are you a new parent, have young children, or an agency that serves families with young children? Check out these links to learn more about your baby’s incredible growth and development – and find resources to support you and your awesome baby!
Parenting
Focuses on nurturing strategies and evidence-informed parenting approaches. Includes tip sheets, developmental support tools, and learning exercises to reinforce responsive caregiving.
Key Concepts
IPV/DV
- Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
Research and resources on IPV’s impact from the Child Welfare Information Gateway
Breastfeeding
- Wisconsin DHS Breastfeeding Information
Overview and promotion/education resources: - CDC Breastfeeding Resources
FAQs, support strategies, and the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative:
Crying
Recommended Reading
Articles
- Want Happier Kids? Cuddle More (Yahoo Parenting)
- Abusive Head Trauma: How to Protect Your Baby (HealthyChildren.Org)
- The Difference Between Tantrums and Sensory Meltdowns (Understood)
- The Neuroscience of Calming a Baby (Psychology Today)
- The Scientific Evidence Against Spanking, Timeouts, and Sleep Training (Quartz)
- Can We Stop A Traumatized Child From Becoming A Traumatized Adult? (Forbes)
- Helping Parents Understand Infant Sleep Patterns (Penn State)
- Helping Your Child’s Speech and Language (In the Playroom)
- How Raising Kids Within Routines Boosts Social and Emotional Health (Deseret News – National)
- How Supportive Parenting Protects the Brain (The Atlantic)
- Strength-Based Parenting Improves Children’s Resilience and Stress Levels (Medical Press)
- Why Don’t We Prepare Men for Fatherhood? (Huffington Post)
Videos & Media
Videos
- Why Is It Important to Comfort Your Child? (Hospital for Sick Children, 1:08)
- Love, a Low Tech Solution (Laura Peterson, TEDx Talks, 16:40)
Websites & Portals
Online Learning Activities
- Protective Factors Overview
Interactive learning activity on the five Protective Factors: