Young children’s developmental well-being spans multiple domains, including physical health, motor skills, social-emotional functioning, self-regulation, and early language and math skills. Development in these domains is shaped by a combination of factors including the child’s individual characteristics, family environment, and broader community and societal contexts. Together, these influences form a dynamic ecology that can either support or hinder healthy development.
A child’s daily experiences play a central role in shaping their early development. These include family interactions such as reading, storytelling, and singing, as well as health-related behaviors like eating fruits and vegetables and getting enough sleep. Other key daily experiences include outdoor play, preschool enrollment, and limited screen time. Many of these are malleable factors, meaning they can be influenced or changed through family practices, community supports, and public policies and programs to reduce developmental risks and promote positive outcomes.
In 2022, the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) introduced the Healthy and Ready to Learn (HRTL) measure as a national indicator of develomental well-being among young children in the United States. Using this nationally representative data, this analysis examines how children’s everyday experiences relate to being healthy and ready to learn, while accounting for sociodemographic factors and multiple influences. These findings offer a clearer understanding of how malleable, everyday experiences may support healthy development 3-year-olds across the United States.
Key Findings
Many daily experiences are associated with developmental well-being among 3-year-olds. When examined in models that accounted for several social and demographic variables and all other daily experiences, we found that:
- Outdoor time of 2+ hours per day was positively associated with developmental well-being overall and specifically in the Early Learning Skills, Social-Emotional, Motor, and Physical Health domains.
- Preschool enrollment was strongly, positively associated with Early Learning Skills.
- Limiting screen time to ≤1 hour per day positively predicted developmental well-being overall and specifically the Social-Emotional, Motor, and Physical Health domains.
- Daily singing and storytelling had a positive association with developmental well-being overall and in three domains; daily reading was positively associated with Early Learning Skills.
Many enriching experiences are not universal, with less than half of 3-year-olds enrolled in preschool, read to daily, or consuming ≤1 hour per day of screen time.
This brief is part of a series that explores the broader conditions influencing the developmental well-being of 3 year-olds. Explore the other briefs in this series.
- Family Characteristics Are Associated With Developmental Well-being at Age 3 (forthcoming)
- Health and Health Care Access Are Associated With Developmental Well-being at Age 3 (forthcoming)
- Neighborhood Characteristics Are Associated With Developmental Well-being at Age 3 (forthcoming)
No single brief and no single set of factors can fully explain children's developmental well-being. Together, these briefs provide a multi-level portrait of the conditions that support, and sometimes undermine, the development of 3-year-olds in the United States.
Suggested citation: Paschall, K., Reddington, E., Moore, K.A., & Bredeson, M. (2026). Daily experiences are associated with developmental well-being at age 3. Child Trends. DOI: 10.56417/9401f5124c