what if i was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world sounds impossible right how do i know because my parents and people around me did them early and often i know not all kids are as lucky some of my friends some kids at my school and many around the world and i would really like to help change that thanks to scientists we now know just how important the first five years are for our health and development especially our brains ari started learning long before he was even born from inside his mummy's tummy when ari was born he was tiny and he cried all the time he was always hungry and he pooped a lot now he laughs and giggles and makes funny noises but those are just the changes we hear and see there's way more going on inside so let's talk more about our brains the blue bag is the rough size and weight of a healthy baby's brain at birth the red one is a baby's brain after the first year it almost doubles in volume and by my age it's almost 90 percent the volume of an adult brain our brains develop faster in our early years than at any other time in our lives it can create up to one million year old connections every second but we need your help our healthy development depends on these top five things one connecting two talking three playing four a healthy home five community all of this helps our brains and us reach our full potential so what's something you can do that can really make a difference scientists call it serve and return that's just a grown-up way of saying connect talk and play with us and here's the really big news copycat games build imagination and empathy and naming games build vocabulary and detention daddy daddy and games like peek-a-boo yep peek-a-boo actually build memory and trust each time you talk to us play with us make us laugh it not only builds and strengthens our relationships and mental health it actually teaches us some of the most important life skills from making friends to taking the test to getting a job to one day maybe even starting a family of our own interactions early enough to matter take it from me the seven-year-old up here talking about brain science okay now let's see what happens when the connection is taken away so now he's trying to get his dad's attention again he's reaching out like that was fine why have you stopped i know it's important for adults to use their devices sometimes but kids are hardwired to seek out meaningful connections not receiving them causes confusion and stress okay i'm a child please re-engage now what if a whole childhood was like that last 30 seconds how hard it would be for a child to feel calm to feel safe to learn to trust anyone and the lifelong impact that would have that makes me feel sad ahri only reacted the way he did and recovered so quickly because the connection between him and his dad is usually so strong the positive relationships with the grown-ups in our lives gives kids the confidence we need to try new things to explore and be a kid so please try remember the most special period for our development is the first five years starting from inside mommy's tummy what's something really impactful you can do serve and return and when early and often please give it up for amateur and ari every moment together is an opportunity to connect talk and play imagine the difference we could make if everyone everywhere did this to us to children it's so much more than just a game it's our future thank you save people really can change the world [Music]