Our brains and muscles have something in common – they both need regular exercise to get stronger. Cognitive skills are a fancy way of describing the brain’s abilities, such as reading, critical thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, memory, and attention. So, by exercising these skills, we can help them get better and better. But what about children? How can we help their brains reach their full potential?
Toddlers and preschoolers discover a lot of new things every day, and exercising and developing their thinking skills is almost second nature. But there are ways that parents and caregivers can help these cognitive abilities really work.
Some may be surprised to learn that most of these cognitive-promoting activities look a lot like games! Imagination, play, and free play are all ways to learn Xi. So, with that in mind, we’ve gathered some ways to engage and entertain your kids…It also helps them improve their cognitive skills.
Color Sorting Game
Sequencing can help children learn how Xi use their brains to organize information. An easy way to do this is to start teaching your child how to sort simple things, like colors. If you don’t have time to build your own color sorting game, you can still challenge your child to do something low-key, like matching socks while doing laundry or sorting toys of the same color into piles.
Sing Along
Of course, you can only listen to “Little Shark” many times, but did you know that by singing with your child, you are helping their brain grow? (Need a tune to sing aloud?check out our favorite songs and sing them along with the kids!)
Matching Games
Strong memory is an essential cognitive skill that children can develop through the Xi practice of matching games. Matching games are also a great way to introduce the little ones to colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and other pre-literacy and math concepts. If you don’t have a game on hand that works for you, you can quickly make a game with the Post-it Shape Matching activity: just cut the sticky notes into different shapes and ask your child to match them to the corresponding paper shape hanging on the sticky notes. Wall.
Reading
Children love stories. Spend as much time as possible reading to your child to help them develop an appreciation for books and reading. As you read aloud, have your child look at the pages and point out the word you are reading. Soon, they will learn how to use pictures to tell them the meaning of words, they will also learn that reading has order and structure, and they will even develop a taste preference for the type of story. These are excellent pre-literacy skills.
DIY Puzzles for Toddlers
Puzzles aren’t just for older kids! We love this fun sibling activity that combines DIY art projects with problem-solving challenges of puzzles for the little ones. Have the older sibling (or you) draw a picture and then cut it into simple puzzles (four pieces may be enough for the youngest toddlers, while older toddlers can solve larger puzzles). Have your child try to use visual cues to solve the problem, putting it back together.
Interviews with Young Children
The concept of time can be confusing for the little ones. To help their brains enhance their sequencing capabilities, you can add interesting daily interviews to your daily routine. Ask your child some fun questions and even consider recording them because the answers will be cute! Try asking questions that challenge your child to think about events in first, second, third, etc.
- What do you do in the morning to get ready for school?
- What do we need to do to prepare before taking a shower?
- Can you tell me what’s going on in the story we just read?
Blowing Bubbles
Young children are not known for their impeccable attention and patience skills. Instead, they tend to possess wild, impulsive energy to help them move from one curious adventure to the next. To help develop your child’s attention, which is an important cognitive skill, try slowing down and blowing bubbles. It may seem silly, but blowing bubbles is an excellent way for your child to breathe deeply, breathe slowly, and focus on the fine motor skills aspects of dipping into the bubble wand and then blowing the bubbles.