Life is full of surprises, happiness, and challenges. Therefore, every individual needs to learn how to deal with any situation that life throws their way to avoid unnecessary stress.
Unfortunately, adults aren’t the only ones who should understand how to respond in different circumstances; children must also learn.
Parents, guardians, and teachers should find ways to promote cognitive development among kids to help them solve issues, think strategically, and make well-informed decisions.
If you want to learn different ways to help a child develop excellent cognitive skills, here are some practical ways you may try:
1. Play Some Music
One way to promote your child’s cognitive development is to play their favorite music. As the music plays, sing along and ask your child to follow suit.
Make this a habit and play the music whenever possible. With time, your child will experience improved memory and begin to identify words.
2. Introduce Puzzle Games
Puzzle games are both entertaining and educational. These games encourage critical thinking, decision-making, and strategic planning in children.
Moreover, puzzle games teach children what to do in specific situations. Typically, children used to playing puzzle games are known to have increased motor skills.
Buying some right now might be useful if you haven’t introduced your child to puzzle games. Choose a puzzle games outlet with the largest selection of jigsaw puzzles, so that newbies and experienced kids can find something they like.
3. Talk To Your Child
Unfortunately, many parents are always busy with work and don’t make time to spend with their children. In such a case, parents will likely expose their children to electronic gadgets like smartphones and laptops.
These gadgets are beneficial to some extent, especially when used correctly. However, nothing can replace open lines of communication between parents and their children.
Unlike what many people think, talking to a child as early as possible has a beneficial effect on their cognitive development.
Regardless of whether or not the child can respond, they still hear and get used to some words. By engaging in regular conversation with your child, you give them invaluable opportunities to hear, grasp, and use the language.
It’s crucial to point out that a parent or guardian is ultimately responsible for shaping a child’s linguistic growth, including the clarity with which they hear and comprehend new words.
If this is the case, having frequent conversations with your child is essential.
4. Ask The Child To Help With Chores
It’s never too early to allow your child to help with chores. This will help your child gain experience, boost their hand-eye coordination skills, and develop problem-solving skills.
5. Practice Reading
Reading significantly impacts a child’s brain development, much like talking and singing. It’s important to get kids to read regularly, whether it’s bedtime stories or something else.
Check the child’s comprehension by asking them questions after you finish reading to see if they understood anything. You can also ask them to name several characters and explain their roles in the story.
Your child will benefit from reading because it’ll increase their ability to reason, learn new words, remember information, pay attention, understand others, comprehend complex ideas, and explain concepts.
6. Identify Noises
Your child hears different noises throughout the day. But do you know identifying these noises can help them relate the sounds with objects?
Therefore, asking your child to identify sounds is vital to see if they can differentiate. For example, ask them what sounds birds, dogs, cats, or cows make to determine their sound identification skills.
You can also create different sounds and ask them to name the source.
7. Don’t Forget About Shapes And Colors
There are colors and shapes everywhere. Yet, many parents are unaware that their presence can improve the cognitive development of their children.
While your child engages in regular activities, assist them in recognizing shapes and colors. For example, you can say, ‘this is an oval, white egg.’
You can also help your child in recognizing the shape of their toy by saying something like, ‘this truck is blue, but the ball is round.’
After a while, ask your child to identify the shapes and colors you’ve taught them to see if they can recognize the difference.
8. Ask Questions
Asking your child questions encourages them to explain themselves and express their concerns. For example, ask your child what clothes they want and why.
It would be best if you also asked them which activity they prefer. Their answer to your questions will create room for discussion, thus enabling your child to learn how to communicate effectively and make choices.
9. Allow Your Kid To Solve Problems
Allowing children to solve problems independently is essential, as it increases cognitive ability. Children with better problem-solving, logical reasoning and decision-making abilities typically solve difficulties effortlessly.
Conclusion
There are many activities to boost cognitive development in growing children. Things perceived to be simple can increase your child’s development milestones by a significant margin.
From playing games to singing children’s songs to reading and identifying noises, children can experience improved cognitive development from almost everything around them.
So, if you’re looking forward to your child developing the ability to make decisions, be strategic, understand and use vocabulary, and have excellent motor skills, keep them busy and allow them to experience and handle challenges.
