Nowhere is this imprint more significant, and more important, than in the first 1 000 days of a child's life — the period from conception to their second birthday when lifelong patterns of learning, health and sense of belonging take root.

Scientists describe these first 1 000 days as a uniquely sensitive window for brain, body and emotional development. Neural connections form at extraordinary speed, and experiences and care literally shape the child's brain architecture for the rest of their life. In other words, what children experience early in their lives cannot easily be undone later. With that in mind, while the official framing of Heritage Day by national government is that it is about celebrating our cultural wealth and diversity, it's important that we also add a legacy lens that extends into homes and classrooms.

UNICEF explains that adequate nutrition and healthcare in this period have a profound impact on brain development, immunity and growth. The WHO Nurturing Care Framework takes this thinking a step further, highlighting the imperative for good health, adequate nutrition, responsive caregiving, opportunities for early learning and safety and security. South Africa's context makes this framework for healthy development in the first 1 000 days especially urgent. Many children in our country face the double burden of malnutrition and a lack of access to care, nurturing and quality early learning.

It's well documented that a lack of nutritious food in one's formative years can lead to stunted growth — which still affects close to a third of children under five — and later, adolescent obesity. But while good food obviously vital, it's not just nutrition that requires attention in the early years. Access to quality early learning is another vital legacy lever that is still not getting the attention it should.

The Thrive by Five Index, a national survey of preschool outcomes, provides insight into where children are in terms of early learning, growth and social-emotional functioning and where support is most needed. The 2024 Index shows that the majority of children enrolled in ELPs in South Africa are not yet on track in key areas of early learning by the age of four. It also reveals that a significant proportion of the country's young children are falling behind in the development of gross motor skills, cognitive and executive functioning, fine motor coordination and numeracy and literacy.

With these challenges in mind, what does effective legacy creation look like in practice during a child's first 1 000 days? Put simply, it involves exposing them to the culture-affirming routines that many of us take for granted, but that can have extraordinary long-term effects. These include a loving, conversation-rich home environment where shared stories build language; clear, predictable and warmly enforced boundaries that help them feel secure; and everyday learning and play that builds curiosity and problem-solving. None of this requires expensive toys or learning aids — but it does ask for time, commitment and support from parents and caregivers.

Maternal wellbeing is also core to building this legacy. Practical help, accurate information and mental-health support for expectant and new mothers has the ability to shift both immediate outcomes in the first 1 000 days of a child's life and create positive lifelong development trajectories.

The point of all this is definitely not to turn childcare, or childhood, into a spreadsheet exercise or a rigid to-do list. The point is to recognise that caring for our children well, and starting early in their lives — even before they are born — is essential for their wellbeing, and that of families and society.

So, while heritage is certainly found in the music we play, the languages we cherish, and even that braai we enjoy with loved ones on the 24th; it is also in the love we give, the words we speak and the curiosity we nurture in every child's earliest days. This Heritage Day, let's celebrate the past, but also intentionally craft the future, by supporting parents and caregivers, strengthening early learning and keeping nutrition and nurturing at the centre of how we treat our youngest South Africans. Because, in the end, our heritage won't be measured in monuments and memoirs — it will be seen in the healthy, curious, resilient children who carry our shared story forward.

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*Image courtesy of contributor