Child’s development is categorized into four main areas: motor, language and communication, social and emotional and cognitive. Brain development comes under the cognitive aspect of a child’s development. A child’s brain develops rapidly during the first three (to eight) years of their life when more than 700 neural connections are being formed every second, a number unmatched to any other time in a person’s lifespan.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the brain development of a child is dependent on three major factors: proper nutrition starting from pregnancy, level of exposure to infections and toxins, and the child’s experiences with other people and the world. To promote the cognitive functioning and brain development of a child, it is important to provide nurturing and responsive care, while positive experiences and activities with primary caregivers are key to supporting healthy brain development. Given below are 5 tips to help catalyze children’s brain development.

1. Reading

One of the best ways to kick-start your child’s brain development is by incorporating reading into their daily routine. Reading promotes and stimulates language and communication skills even before the child starts recognizing letters and words. Also, using picture books helps connect the image and the word in the child’s mind, improving their memory, vocabulary and reasoning skills.

2. Playing

Playtime is another extremely important key to promoting a child’s brain development. It can include playing a game, singing rhymes or even talking. For toddlers, encouraging pretend play, colouring, and building with blocks help foster imagination, creativity and critical thinking skills. Guessing games actively engage your child’s brain and listening, singing and creating their own rhymes promotes communication skills.

3. Music: Listening and Singing

Music helps to stimulate the millions of neural pathways that are created in children every day. Exposing children to different types of music helps with language, cognitive, social and emotional development. When a child imitates your singing, make sure to validate him/her by imitating, as such positive reinforcements encourage spontaneity, further helping your child learn.

4. Counting

While climbing or learning to climb the stairs, count each step you and your child takes. Doing this or similar activities together will make your child familiar with numbers and make it fun for him/ her as well. Your child begins to learn the basics of mathematics by starting to interpret numbers as concepts and not just words.

5. Comfort and Positive Interactions

Like adults, babies, toddlers and children can feel and experience stress too. Therefore, to promote healthy brain development and functioning, it is important to provide consistent responsive, loving, nurturing and supportive care, especially in the first 3 years of a child’s life. Positive interactions and experiences with others strengthen the connection between the child and the world, facilitating eagerness and engagement with learning and strengthening long-term learning capabilities.

Remember over and above anything else, it is extremely important to always create a secure attachment, a positive environment, a proper response to the distress, a language-rich environment and enough play, cuddle and talk time with your child to develop a long-lasting impact on brain development.