As children grow up, it is important that their cognitive and motor skills develop according to their brain age. Stimulating the right senses during their growth period helps take care of all these facets. This will not only help them excel in school but also turns them into the brightest human beings who can contribute immensely to the community.
Let us look at 10 key tasks that empower your child’s brain function:
1. Communication: To develop language skills, it is important to communicate with your child at an early age. When they get to grasp the daily activities going on around them through new terms and expressions, they develop a good vocabulary.
2. Books are friends: Books pave the way for brain development in an immense way. The first step to gross motor skill development happens for toddlers through holding books. Illustrated books play a vital role in enhancing the understanding of our surroundings. As they grow up, sticking with the habit of reading shifts their perspective into comprehending the world better.
3. Questions to remove confusion: Approach your kids with questions that always stir their thinking and reasoning. You might also ask them for suggestions on your doubts. You’d be surprised that 4 out of 6 confusions in your life might be solved by their simple answer.
4. Sensory exploration: Kids have a natural tendency to explore the environment around them. We should never hinder this process fearing the mistakes they might make or the pits they might fall into. Explain the things that are not safe and the harm that might incur to them. Encourage them to take healthy risks and then they are good to go.
5. Physical activities: A healthy brain resides in a healthy body which in turn can only be cultivated through physical movement. Let your child grow through play and games to evolve a happy brain. Always take care to provide them time for fun and entertainment. Uplift them to take part in any kind of sports they like.
6. Constructing event memory: Learning to associate certain things with specific situations and events create event memory. Try to associate photos or images to your life or things they are familiar with. Event memory is very important for long term memory and to improve the memory intake of the brain.
7. Freedom: Children figure out most of the things by themselves without our help. What we actually need to do is give them some time and freedom to resolve instead of yelling about what they did wrong and how to do it.
8. Hobbies, art and crafts: Fine motor skills are developed through art and craft activities. Inculcating hobbies stimulate brain activities and release happy hormones such as endorphin and dopamine.
9. Decision making & logical reasoning: We should always try to reason things with our kids which would instil that habit in them. They naturally think logically and we just have to give a push to amplify their thinking. Give them choices in daily life to boost their decision making power which is a very good brain empowerment exercise.
10. Nutrition: A well balanced nutritious diet is immensely vital for the overall development of a child. Consumption of brain foods improves concentration as well as good mood. Give them vegetables, seasonal fruits, eggs, pulses, whole grains and dairy products that are rich in nutrients necessary for powering up the brain.
A healthy blend of all these essential activities will go a long way for the in-depth development of your child, making them ready to face the future.