Ten Years of Building Brains: An evidence synthesis of uptake and impact to date

Playful interactions with caregivers, nested in a secure and nurturing environment, shape young brains. Yet many children, especially those most impacted by inequalities, miss out on such opportunities because their caregivers lack the skills, confidence and support they need to offer them a safe, responsive, playful and nurturing home.

The causal relationship between safe, responsive and playful caregivers and improved child development outcomes inspired Save the Children to develop Building Brains (BB), an evidence-based approach aligned with the Nurturing Care Framework. Building Brains promotes early learning, responsive caregiving, safety and security, and is designed to be integrated into health, nutrition and other service delivery platforms to provide young children with an enabling and nurturing environment in which to grow, learn and thrive. Building Brains acknowledges the complexity and challenges of delivering cross-sectoral Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs in resource-constrained settings and the need to adapt interventions to local circumstances, capacities and needs. It provides guidance on how to design effective, scalable and locally relevant interventions that can be integrated into existing health, nutrition, protection and education programs.