The world’s youngest children need your ideas - open letter from our CEO

Here’s a question for you.

What if the wellbeing of our youngest children was a driving force in everything, from the way we design doctors’ appointments and education systems to how we tackle the climate crisis?

When we see the world through a child’s eyes, we see the need for care, fresh air, safe homes, clean water, a good education, opportunities to play, and nutritious food to eat all the more clearly.

That’s why I’m writing to you today.

For the LEGO brand’s 90th birthday, we’re making a commitment to the world’s youngest children

And we could be giving you a share of a development grant worth 900 million DKK (approximately USD 140 million). We’re looking for detailed ideas, plans and initiatives that transform the lives of young children, their families, and their communities. Ideas that we can put in place straight away to give children under six the help they so desperately need to thrive.

Children’s potential in those first six years of life is vast

Very young brains form more than a million neural connections a second. That’s an extraordinary pace they’ll never repeat again.

Every experience: from the bond children form with parents and caregivers, to the food they eat or the way they learn and play builds children’s brains and immune and metabolic systems. In turn, it shapes the lives they’ll grow up to live.

There’s a critical window to give children the best start. While the brain keeps growing and maturing, the speed at which it does shrinks past the age of six. Yet children under six are often forgotten in national plans, in spite of the knock-on effect this has on a country’s health and wealth.

Here’s what we know:

• When children under the age of six live in heavily polluted cities, their brains and bodies can be negatively impacted, stunting growth, and cognitive development.
• When children live in poverty, the lack of regular, healthy meals, and safe, clean, and protective homes can stunt their growth and development.
• When children grow up in conflict zones, the high levels of stress can release dangerously high levels of cortisol – which affects children’s physical and cognitive development, their memory and how they are able to regulate their emotions as adults.
• That same toxic stress can affect children in violent homes. A recent UNICEF report shows as many as 80% of children aged two to four in low- and middle-income countries face violent discipline at home.
• ·Since the pandemic started, around 40 million children have missed essential chances to learn and play. And we’re only just starting to measure the longer-term effects.

And many children face several barriers at once, and for prolonged periods of time –threatening their development for the rest of their lives.

Play has the power to break down those barriers

All children, from all backgrounds, wherever they are in the world have the right to play. Play is natural for children. It’s how they process their experiences, learn best, hone skills and explore the world around them. It’s how they collaborate with others, and how they learn to think about other people’s feelings too.

When you apply for our development grant, your ideas should support young children and their families first and foremost. But the chances are – if you’re helping children develop healthily and build strong relationships, you’ll get there faster if you give children room to play.

It’s time to shift systems so children, families, and communities flourish

If we work together, we can build safe, nurturing, stimulating environments to support our youngest children’s well-being and holistic development. And we can help communities and entire countries thrive.

The world knows so much about those crucial early years in a child’s life yet invests so little to protect them. We’re changing that.

Introducing the Build a World of Play Challenge

Five amazing organisations with the boldest ideas for the biggest impact will receive the grants- with three organisations receiving 200 million DKK each, and two organisations 100 million DKK each. In addition, the ten finalists will receive 6.5 million DKK each to strengthen their proposed plans, start building the team, and skill up to successfully implement their innovation.

Do you have a tech innovation that will improve the health of families with young children?

Do you have plans to make cities safer, greener, more sustainable, more playful, and more accessible places for all children to live, grow, and thrive? 

Do you have innovative ideas for reducing stress amongst caregivers, so they build stronger, safer, and more nurturing relationships with the young children they care for?

Do you have big plans to help all children learn through play? And by all, we mean all. That includes equal access to education for girls, equal access for children with disabilities and equal access for neurodiverse children who may need extra support.

We want breakthrough ideas that can integrate across systems, that are contextually relevant and that resonate within the communities who will ultimately own and sustain them.

We hope you’ll rise to the challenge

You can register from today until April 7, 2022 and submit your applications until May 17, 2022. You’ll get all the information you need on our website.

Let’s give our youngest children the brightest start.