Key Takeaways

• Serve and return interactions—responsive, back-and-forth exchanges between a young child and a caring adult—play a key role in shaping brain architecture. 

• These interactions, much like a lively game of tennis, form a critical part of a child’s social environment and are crucial for early development. 

• They support development of early language and social skills that serve as a foundation for more complex, high-level cognitive abilities that form later in life. 

Fast Facts

• The human brain expects this game of back and forth, and it is essential for healthy development.

• Naming what a young child is seeing, doing, or feeling helps make important language connections, even before they can talk or understand words. 

• Serve and return interactions reinforce brain circuits that are at the core of our early emotional well-being and social skills.  

Responsive, attentive relationships with a caring adult help build a strong foundation for a child’s brain architecture and for all future health and well-being. When an infant or young child babbles, gestures, or cries, and an adult responds with eye contact, words, or a hug, this back-and-forth interaction—known as serve and return—helps to build and strengthen neural connections in the child’s brain. These connections are essential for the development of communication and social skills. Much like a lively game of tennis, these exchanges are not only fun, but they also provide good, skill-building practice. 

When caregivers are attentive and responsive to a child’s needs and signals, they create an environment rich in serve and return experiences. There are countless ways for caregivers to engage in these essential exchanges