As a new parent, you want to give your baby the best start in life, and a big part of supporting early brain development is stimulating your baby’s brain. Brain development plays a significant role in your baby’s overall cognitive development. From birth to five years old, your baby’s brain will develop rapidly during this critical time for learning and development. Research tells us that 90 percent of your baby’s brain develops in the first five years!

It might seem like a daunting task, but boosting your baby’s brain does not need to be complicated; in fact, it can be a simple part of your daily routine.

At New Horizon Academy, we know that the best way to help your baby’s brain is to actively engage her through everyday activities like talking, playing, reading, and comforting her when she feels stressed.

Brain Development Activities

Here are four everyday activities that help your little one’s development.

One-on-One Time

The number one brain booster for your baby is one-on-one time with you. Responsive, warm, and supportive interactions between you and your baby build the foundation for learning.

Talking

Talk to your baby about what you are doing. Describe what you see together, such as, “Here is a bird. He is red. See him fly in the sky.” As your baby begins to babble and coo, talk with her as though she is carrying on a conversation with you.

By talking to your baby, you are helping her develop her vocabulary. All that babbling and cooing is your baby’s pre-language skills developing. Studies have shown that the number of words a child learns by the age of three grows in direct correlation to how many words are spoken in the home.

Playing and Singing

Research highlights the importance of playing with your baby. Essential elements of your little one’s growth are all developed and fine-tuned through play. Skills such as developing a healthy self-confidence, strengthening listening skills, improving language skills, and growing important physical skills are all developed through play.

Whether it is games like “Peek-a-Boo”, “Pat-a-Cake”, singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, or using puppets, this playing and singing fosters imagination and creativity and helps promote language development.

You may think, “Well, I am not a good singer.” That is just fine. Your singing voice does not matter. You are singing to you baby, not being judged on American Idol, and your baby loves the sound of your voice and the attention you are giving him.

Reading

Reading to your baby is one of the most powerful things you can do to support brain development. Studies have also shown that children who were read to as newborns have a larger vocabulary, as well as more advanced mathematical skills, than other children their age and are better prepared to eventually start reading on their own.

You are the best brain builder for your baby, and it is through everyday interactions that you help your baby grow and develop.

 

We invite you to visit our Family Resource Library for additional brain development activities!