12 Effective Ways to Develop Your Child’s Brain
As parents, it's okay to wonder if you're
doing your best to help your baby and your young children develop their
brains and thinking. Many factors shape the early development of the
brain, such as nutrition, daily experiences, physical activity, warmth,
and love, and you can expose your children to a rich variety of
activities, which will also lead to stronger emotional communication
between you both. So if you want to know whether you’re buying the right
toys or telling the right stories, the following 12 tips will help you
to help your children develop their brains and thinking.
1. Sign Language
A great way to communicate with children before they even start talking
is through sign language. A study at the University of California found
that babies whose parents spoke to them using hand signals started
talking earlier and had higher IQs than those who spoke to them without
hand signals. Try to move your hands as much as possible while talking,
point to objects that you are speaking about, and while listening to
songs and try to move your hands according to the meaning of the song so
that your children learn to communicate better and faster.
2. Story time
Although you may think your baby doesn’t understand what is being said
around him, creating a routine of reading a bedtime story is a crucial
factor in your child's mental development. If you continue to spend time
reading a bedtime story, not only will you help your child develop
language and thinking, but they will first encounter problems and fears
that arise from the stories, thus acquiring tools and getting ideas for
ways to deal with such situations.
Also, reading together will create a deeper connection between you and
your child, and allow them to feel secure and cherish the time spent
with you.In light of today's technological advancements, it is important
to continue to read stories to babies and young children so that they
can learn how to use their imagination to bring life to the characters
depicted in the story and not only depend on movies telling them how
they should look.
3. Healthy diet
In order to help your children develop their brains and thinking, it is
important to watch the food they eat and the frequency of meals consumed
daily. First, it is very important to start each day with a healthy
breakfast that will help improve memory and brain development. Second,
it is recommended to consume foods containing antioxidants, which will
help improve your child’s memory. Omega 3 helps improve cognition, and
foods such as salmon, tuna, avocado, walnuts, and almonds are a great
source of this essential ingredient.
4. Musical instruments
It is highly recommended that you make music an integral part of your
children's lives. Various studies on the impact of music on young
children have found that listening to music improves the memory,
attention, and desire of the child to learn and gain additional
knowledge. Moreover, music can reduce stress that can be devastating to
your child's brain as it develops. If your child not only hears music
but also play it themselves, it will have a positive influence on their
spatial thinking processes and will build the foundations for solving
abstract mathematical problems.
In a study conducted in Hong Kong, children who were active participants
in music class at school significantly improved the cognitive
functioning of their brains. In addition, it was found that listening to
music during the lesson improves memory and leads to good memory test
results compared to those who do not listen to music. The researchers
added that the earlier the child is exposed to music and studies with
music, the better their memory would be.
5. Breathing exercises
Deep breathing exercises help to improve memory and teach control. The
main advantage of these exercises is that children like to do them, so
it is recommended to perform breathing exercises frequently. Place your
children in a calm and peaceful atmosphere and tell them to lie on their
backs and continue to breathe naturally. Then perform the "elevator
breath" and guide them according to the following steps:
Imagine your breathing controls an elevator that goes up and down
your body. To get the elevator moving, start breathing through your
nose.
Exhale, and imagine that the elevator has reached all the way down
to your toes.
Breathe in, take the elevator up to the chest and hold your breath
for a few seconds. Then breathe out.
Breathe in and lift the elevator to your throat, into your face, and
into your forehead. Feel your head fill with air and hold your breath
for a few seconds. Then breathe out and feel the elevator take the
worries and problems down your chest, stomach, and legs, and out of your
body.
This soothing technique will not only improve your child's memory
but will also make them feel that they have more control over their body
and as a result, over their lives.
6. Personal space 
Sometimes it seems like little children need to be entertained every
waking hour, but the truth is they also need a time when they can keep
themselves busy. Give your baby an open and safe space where they can
play alone and learn certain things themselves, under your supervision
of course. This means that once a specific area of the house has been
dedicated to this purpose, which includes moving sharp or heavy objects,
let them play with clocks, books, dolls and other games appropriate for
their age.
If you allow your child to move freely in the space and engage
themselves with new and different objects, you’ll be helping them
develop their attention span, which will significantly improve their
academic achievements in the future. In addition, the games played at
this time will allow the brain to make more connections through the
actions it performs.
7. Nurture a healthy relationship
Many studies have found a direct link between warm relationship and
cooperation with the child, and the development of their intelligence.
In addition, it was shown that infants who did not receive attention
from their parents in the form of touch, affectionate words, or playing
together did not show complete brain development, and those who
experienced extreme alienation suffered a severe delay in their brain
and emotional development. Therefore, it is important to shower your
baby with love, since the connection that exists between you both
provides the basis for their thinking skills, which will determine their
development and future.
8. Pets
Many parents refrain from bringing an animal into their home while their
child is still a baby, for one reason or another, but having an animal
at home helps the baby's brain to develop better both emotionally and
cognitively. The relationship that can be created between an animal and
your baby can be useful in building social skills and in learning
accepted and desirable behavior. It should be noted that dogs can help
the baby understand social situations and emotions more than cats. If
your pet is part of your life even before a baby has joined the family,
expose it gradually and carefully to the new and important resident in
your home.
9. Choosing toys
When choosing toys for your toddler, try to buy not only toys that look
"cool" but also those that will enrich and challenge them. Classic toys,
like building blocks, can help develop your child's imagination.
Another example a Jack in the Box, and through it, your child will learn
cause and effect; "If then," "If I turn the knob, the nice clown will
suddenly appear." In addition, it is recommended to encourage children
to play with cardboard boxes or anything else that can develop their
imagination and creativity.
10. Involvement in the kitchen
There is usually a tendency to keep small children out of the kitchen
because they are more messy than helpful, but you should know that
involving small children in the kitchen will help them develop
mathematical abilities and improve their spatial vision. So next time
you cook, bring your child close, explain to them that they are
responsible for helping you cook or bake a dish for the whole family.
You can ask your child to pass you exactly 8 potatoes, so you can make
perfect mashed potatoes, or add 4 cups of cold water to the bowl, and
everything from counting and measuring. This will lead to quality time
spent together, as well as to improving your child's actual brainpower
while enjoying the fun of cooking.
11. Sports exercises
Encourage your children to engage in physical activity, not only to be
stronger, but also to be smarter because exercise increases blood flow
to the brain and builds new brain cells. Exercising is also beneficial
for greater thinking in adults, but it has a longer-term effect on
younger children, whose brains are still developing.
12. Verbal encouragement to explore what is going on
When you take family trips, clean your house or go shopping, try to use
your free time to talk to your children and help them explore what is
going on. This is because there is a direct correlation between the
number of words your children hear and their verbal IQ, meaning that the
more you talk to them, the better their vocabulary will be. You can do
this by sharing your perspective on the experiences you're going
through, for example: "Look at the cute little dog running around in the
park," "Did you hear the fire alarm that went off?" and so forth.
Another great way to challenge your child’s mind and memory is to change
the position of their high-chair to a different side of the dining
table or move their play area. This will expose them to a different view
of the places and events they are used to seeing. Doing so will give
your child an additional perspective that will expose them to more
details in the same environment.