From birth to the age of 5, the brain of a child develops more than at any other time in life. Early brain development has a lasting impact on the ability of a child to learn and succeed in school, and in life. Right from the time of birth, children develop brain connections through their everyday experiences. These connections are built largely by using their senses to interact with the world. The daily experiences of a child determine which brain connections would effectively develop and last. Hence, you need to think about what challenges your child from an early age, to ensure positive brain development. After all, the amount and quality of stimulation and interaction they receive in their early years makes all the difference.
Building brain connections
A newborn baby has all of the brain cells or neurons they shall have for the rest of their life. However, it is the connections between these cells that make the brain work. Brain connections allow you to move, think, communicate and do various other things. Early childhood years are vital for making these connections. About a million new neural connections (synapses) are made every second in young kids, more than at any other time in life.
Importance of early brain development
Young kids usually learn differently from adults. Instead of logical reasoning, they often depend on their environment and their senses. Hence, when thinking about what challenges your child, you must take positive interactions and explorations into account. Responsive and nurturing care for the mind and body of a child is vital to healthy brain development.
Children are born ready to learn. They need to develop and hone several skills in their formative years. Your child would depend on you to help them develop the right skills to become independent and lead successful lives. How the brain of a child grows is significantly impacted by their experiences with other people and the world. Children learn the best when the parents actively talk and play with them, build on their skills and interests, and explore brain development challenges.
Ways to challenge your kid every day
Speaking and playing with your child, exposing them to games, books, songs and stories, can go a long way in strengthening their language and communication. The right activities can challenge your kid mentally and academically, and put them on a path towards learning and succeeding in school.
To help your kid’s brain form connections faster, here are a few engaging brain development activities you can try out.
- Play games: When considering how to challenge your child academicallyto develop their brain, you may ponder on having them read, write, do simple math, and so on. However, it is vital to understand brain development does not just include academics.
- Reading: Reading is among the best ways to promote the brain development of a child. An early love of reading can help fuel increased brain connections for understanding and ultimately using language in everyday conversations. Even if you have a toddler, reading to them can contribute to the development of brain connections for early language. Seeing pictures and hearing words connect the two in the mind of a child. Repeating the same stories or rhymes further builds recognition between the words you speak and the images on the page. As your child gets older, you should use the reading time as an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the stories.
- Explore through climbing: Apart from being a great way to develop gross motor skills, climbing can also be among the most efficient brain development challenges. It can improve spatial awareness, coordination and balance. Climbing can:
- Help your child problem-solve by deciding where their hands and feet should go to best climb an object
- Help them to develop logical thinking skills like visualization, as they are likely to visualize their route to climb up an object
- Repeat after me: This activity is ideal for kindergarten-aged children. You just need to have your child repeat a beat when you clap your hands. Over time, this would enable them to learn to count along to each beat, while learning that numbers are more than just repeating words. This would make it easier for the kids to do simple math basics and they may even start noticing patterns in everyday life.
- Ask questions: If you are thinking about how to challenge your child academically, then your first step should be to simply ask them questions. As your child learns to speak, you can ask them questions related to anything they do. If your child accompanies you in the kitchen, you may even ask them about what to do next or what your child thinks will happen when combining ingredients. Questions boost children’s brain development by putting them on the path to logical thinking. It also makes them more curious about the world around them. You must also encourage your child to ask the question ‘Why?’ Do not give your child the answers; rather help work through the question with them.
Playing allows kids to freely experiment, explore and make sense of the surroundings. Apart from being fun, playtime can also be useful in learning skills, being creative, solving problems and more. You can encourage kids to play diverse types of games that stimulate the imagination and cognitive development, like role-play or pretend-play. By dressing up as a superhero, doctor, or firefighter and conjuring scenarios, a child experiments with varied identities and situations.
As children learn better using their senses like sight and touch, you can teach them to play fun games involving hand movements. Hand puppets, Peekaboo and Patty Cake are a few engaging games that can help in the brain development of your child with non-verbal cues, sight and language.
Climbing can also contribute to building determination and confidence in children.
To make sure that your kid is reaching his or her full potential in regards to brain development, you should try to incorporate the activities mentioned above in their daily life. We at Kangaroo Kids International Preschool focus on making the first five years of a child count, and hence follow a groundbreaking pedagogy and learner-centric approach. To learn more about our curriculum, contact us today.
