These enjoyable brain-boosting exercises promise to not only engage and entertain your child but also train their brain for better functioning.
Have you observed that some children understand things faster, while some can retain things better? Some possess faster problem-solving skills, while other kids in the same age group might be a little slow? Well, there is absolutely nothing to worry about as every child’s brain is wired uniquely. The good news,though,is that the mind can be made sharperwith some proven brain development activities for kids.
Here are some of the best healthy brain development exercises for your kids that can improve their executive functions and cognitive skills remarkably:
- Elevator Breathing
Also called a three-part breath, elevator breathing is a deep breathing technique that improves memory and emotional control. Ask your child to sit in a cross-legged position and take a deep breath in through the nose to feel their belly, chest and heart centre rise. As they breathe out, ask them to feel their belly, chest and heart centrefall. It feels like an elevator going up and down with each breath. Repeat 8-10 times.
- The Motor Coordination Exercise
Our brain needs as much exercise as our body. Both function in a synchronized manner to perform various actions. Few exercises that can improve the brain-body coordination include toe wiggling before getting out of bed, doing chores or writing with your non-dominant hand and touching each knee with the opposite elbow.
- The Concentration Game
This is to improve focus and memory. Line up a few random toys or objects before your child and give them 30-60 seconds to observe them. Now cover them up and see how many your child can remember in the correct sequence. You can also speak some random words and then ask your kid to repeat up to 5 or 10 words in the same sequence.
- Game Night At Home
Take out all the board games and playing cards that your kid has received as presents all year long. Play with them to exercise their brainand improve their problem-solving and planning skills. Propose a weekend game night with all the family members to dial up the fun.
- Dinner Table Talk
Daily communication boosts kids’ brain development by encouraging learning from incidents and critical thinking. Bonus: It also strengthens the family bond.
Discuss everyday accomplishments and challenges with your kids at dinner time and share yours with them too. Ask them to share their thoughts on a movie they watched or share yours about a book you have been reading.
- Learning Another Language
Our brain becomes accustomed to doing the same task repeatedly; hence, learning something new thatcan stimulate the brain cells. Learning a new language will improve your child’s memory. Knowing a second or third language will also make them competitive and smarter. Comprende?
- Creating a Map of Your Neighbourhoods
This may seem irrelevant at first because who doesn’t remember the streets of their own neighbourhood? While it may be easy to walk to your local market, it might not be as easy to remember and draw a map of your town. Give this a try with your kid and see how accurately you could include street names and landmarks. This will activate your child’s brain and boost their memory.
- Daily Communication
Talking—honestly communicating—is becoming a lost skill in today’s age of continuous texting. Taking time with kids regularly to hear about their successes and struggles and sharing your own will substantially enhance your child’s communication and conversational abilities. Sharing your successes and setbacks can also assist kids in developing problem-solving skills. Dinnertime with the family is a fantastic time to do this and a lovely tradition to establish. Alternatively, read a book with your child and ask them questions about what they saw. Discuss the events and the emotions, not only how the characters felt, but what your child was thinking and experiencing as well. Also, express your feelings and opinions.
- Learn new Stuff
Learning something new is one method to keep your brain active and present new challenges regularly. Learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, or picking up a new pastime are all possibilities. You will not only be extending your mind, but you will also be learning something new as you continue to improve your abilities and achieve more success.
- Encourage a love of literature from a young age
Choose books with large, vivid illustrations, and enjoy your child’s enjoyment in pointing to specific images or even making noises that match the reader. Encourage toddlers to talk about books by changing their voice tone, simplifying or expanding on narrative lines, and encouraging them to talk about books.
- Using Non-Dominant Hand
Because using your opposite hand may be so difficult, it’s a wonderful method to boost brain activity. When you’re eating supper or attempting to write anything down, consider swapping hands. It will be challenging, but that is just the goal.
- Puzzles
Puzzles are an excellent technique for children to improve their hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, cognitive abilities, fine motor skills, logical thinking, and spatial awareness. Jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, Soduku, scrabble, logic puzzles, and tangrams are just a few of the many options available.
- Physical Games
Scavenger hunts, hide-and-seek, and other classic activities help keep a child’s brain sharp since these games educate your children to follow directions, enhance their attention span, raise their spatial awareness, and teach them self-control. Mazes and scavenger hunts also assist youngsters to develop logical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities by challenging them to think outside the box. Children learn indirectly from an early age via joyful play that if one method fails, they must adapt and find another way around the difficulty.
Get involved in these brain development activities with your kids to have fun while promoting their growth. And remember to take your kid for a quiet stroll outside or visit a friend after all the brain development exercises for giving them a good break!
