Early Child Development

For almost 30 years, the Lawson Foundation has been at the forefront of supporting the science of early human development, which shows that experiences during the prenatal and early childhood periods are key to the health, education, behaviour and general wellbeing of children throughout their lives.

Research points to sensitive or critical periods in early brain development when children have the greatest ability to acquire certain developmental skills. The kinds of positive experiences children have early in life influence how they develop, and the benefits play out across later childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

The Lawson Foundation supports public policy and professional learning initiatives that help build and strengthen a pan-Canadian system of early learning and child care. We are particularly interested in initiatives that contribute to universal access to high-quality, publicly funded early learning opportunities to support their healthy development.

Our work also recognizes the importance of outdoor and Land-based play and learning as a key component of healthy early development. Outdoor and Land-based play and learning support multiple developmental benefits: physical activity, resilience, self-regulation, social skills, and learning through exploration. We continue to support efforts that build adult capacity to  children’s opportunities for outdoor and Land-based play in early learning and child care  settings, through adult education, training, and policy development.

Outdoor Play Strategy: A Phased Approach

Understand our Impact

Access information about our granting history and the projects that we fund in our Grants Navigator.