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Serve & Return Interactions: Building Strong & Resilient Brains

By Formative 5 Coalition January 30, 2020

The Formative 5 Coalition is a group of community members and professionals who have come together in response to the Early Development Instrument (EDI) results for Chestermere & Southeast Rocky View, to promote the importance of the early years (0-5 years of age), the most formative years in the human lifespan. The Formative 5 works within the communities of Chestermere, Conrich, Dalemead, Dalroy, Indus, Langdon, and area.

More and more research finds that what happens in the early years plays a big role in our lifelong health, well-being, and learning. The mission of the Formative 5 Coalition is to engage the community and focus our collective efforts and resources to ensure that all children grow up in a healthy and nurturing environment and that our community is equipped to provide all of the necessary supports to families. As early childhood lays the foundation for the future, it is very important that we do everything we can to support the healthy development of all children in our region.

Part of the Coalition’s mandate is to raise awareness of the importance of the early years and how the first five years of rapid brain development form lifetime behaviours, social skills and learning capacity.


This article will focus on Serve and Return interactions, an important aspect of helping children build strong and resilient brains

Serve and Return Interactions

Beginning when your child is a newborn, research has found that serve and return interactions are the “building blocks of brain architecture, the mortar of relationships, and the wiring for language, social skills, and emotional control” (Terry Bullick, Apple Magazine 2018). 

What is Serve and Return?

Serve and return works like an imaginary game of tennis or volleyball between you and your child, however, instead of using a ball, interaction and communication is passed between the two of you. Your child begins the “serve” with babbling, eye contact, gesture, facial expression, or touch - reaching out for interaction. A responsive caregiver will “return the serve” to their child by speaking back, smiling, loving touch, or sharing a toy or laugh. 

How Does Serve and Return Contribute to Brain Development?

New neural connections form every time serve and return interaction occurs between a baby and caregiver according to the Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child. These back-and-forth exchanges are crucial to a child’s early brain development, as the new neural connections create the foundation for future learning and skill development. They also positively affect early child intellectual, physical, social, emotional, behavioural, and moral development.

Serve and return also contributes to the relationship and attachment between a baby and caregiver. Over time, failing to provide a consistent and loving response to baby’s “serves” will weaken important neural pathways and impair the development of abilities, behaviour and health. Research has proven that when a baby’s attempts at interaction and continuously ignored, they feel distress. Melanie Berry, a researcher with the University of Oregon explained that “children don’t need you to respond to every serve they make - even the best player doesn’t return every serve. But children need enough returns.”

Limiting Screen Time

The Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child states that screen time actually takes away from the individualized benefit of serve and return since there is no scientific support for videos or electronic games that claim to promote brain development. Serve and return between baby and caregiver provides development that is personally targeted to their specific needs and personality. These devices also impact the parent or caregiver’s contribution to these interactions because when concentrated on a screen it is easy to miss a child’s serves and attempts at communication. Limiting screen time for both child and caregiver to ensure that interaction is lovingly acknowledged and continuously responded to.

Visit https://www.albertafamilywellness.org/what-we-know/serve-and-return for more information!


Want to join us?


The Formative 5 Coalition is community-based and we welcome and encourage participation from anyone in the community who has an interest in early childhood development.

Contact Us:

Looking for FREE brain-building programs and additional resources to help you through your parenting journey? Call the Parent Link Centre at (403) 207-7050 or email plcinfo@chestermere.ca. Check out our free early childhood programs and services, and our latest program calendar here or on the Macaroni Kid calendar.