3 Actionable Tips to Improve Your Toddler’s Brain Development
So you’ve might have been searching online to find information about how to nurture your child . There’s so much information out there it might be hard to figure out which one to follow and which research should you trust.
Our team of neuroscientists, psychologists and early childhood educators from Stanford and Harvard University looked at 20 years worth of developmental research to help distill this abundance of knowledge into 3 main tips.
But before that, one of the names you should definitely not miss is James Heckman — a Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics and expert in quantification of human development. Based on his studies, we know just how critical investing in early childhood education is among the things that parents can do for their baby — as well as for the society, it turns out. Over many years of research, Heckman proved that just $1 invested in child’s development before age 5 , returns around $13 in future economic outcomes and increased human capital.
By what does ‘investing’ mean? Many groups of researchers found that it is simple activities like reading or speaking more are the most effective in nurturing complex skills and have the highest impact on baby’s speech, cognitive and emotional development.
So what can you do to boost your baby’s development during this critical period? Does this mean you need to spend a lot of money on interest classes and activities? Not necessarily.
In fact, the most effective things you can do, can be done at home — and it requires using your voice.
1. Get more personal
Research consistently shows that interacting with your little one in person is critical for their brain development, and some of the most impactful activities are also the most intuitive — playing, comforting and showing affection through kissing and hugging. These interactions make the baby feel loved, secure and safe which are the conditions required for the development of emotional intelligence.
What resides in your control is the quantity and quality of the interactions you have with your baby. Here are some ideas:
EXPOSE
Take your little one with you when travelling or simply to run errands, museum visits and lunches meetings with your friends. These opportunities will allow your baby to interact with the world and expose their growing brain to varied sources of stimuli!
PLAY
Play games with them so they know how to share with others, take turns, and work in a team. Try out activities like:
- Throwing Balls
- Take turns in pressing buttons on toys
- Handing toys to one another
TALK
Verbally name the emotions that they are displaying, so that they can learn to map out emotions in the future, and learn the words associated with them (even if they cannot understand them yet!). Explain to them why they may be feeling that way. Speak with empathy.
2. Use a variety of words
It’s not just enough to spend time with your child — how and how much you speak to them matters more than you think.
A famous research by Risley and Hart showed that babies from high-income families heard around 30 million more words by the age of 4 than those from low-income families!
In addition, studies have shown that babies who heard more words by age 3 scored higher in cognitive development tests and reading assessments in Grade 3.
Baby’s brain grows 85% in the first three years of their life.
When speaking to your child, it’s easy to use simplified words (so-called “parentese”). Nevertheless, studies show that using a varied vocabulary when speaking to the baby stimulates their brains to form new neural connections and builds the architecture needed to support their future thinking and reading skills. The more you talk to your baby, the more words they will get exposed to and the faster they will learn to speak.
So how to improve the quantity and quality of words your baby hears?
ASK QUESTIONS
Don’t treat them like a baby, but assume that they are absorbing the sounds you produce and their brain silently learns cognitive and social cues that you feed it with. Ask for their likes, dislikes and opinions. Listen to them with attention, and respond to them nodding, almost like if you could understand what they say. Also, try to repeat to them what they just said. This helps them to articulate and train their listening skills.
SUPPORT
If your child is starting to say a sentence but with incorrect pronunciation, instead of correcting them, just say the sentence with the right pronunciation so they can model after you, e.g. if they say, ‘ I want a cookie’, instead of saying,’ No, say cookie’, say this, ‘Ok baby, you want a cookie?’
DESCRIBE
Verbally describe the steps that you are following when performing activities together. “I am putting you into the bathtub now!” or “Let me put some powder on your skin to keep it fresh”.
3. Observe their temperament
Children respond to activities and actions differently because of their varying temperaments, which is their personal ‘style’ of experiencing the world. Temperament is biologically based — what goes on inside their heads is reflected through their reactions to the outside world.
This means that you should not be trying to change your baby’s temperament, but rather observe it, understand it and adapt the activities that you plan to match your baby’s unique developmental path.
Here are some common traits to help you determine which type your baby is inclined to:
Sensory Reactivity
Likes lots of sounds, lights, actions? Easily gets overwhelmed with too many sounds, lights or actions?
Emotional intensity
Squeals and cries at issues that you think are small? Easy-going?
Activity Level
High Activity Level? Loves just sitting down and doing quiet activities?
Persistence
Gives up easily? Persists and finds out ways to make something work
Time to warm-up to others
Fast? Slow?
Being sensitive towards your baby’s temperament can make your parenthood more natural and rewarding. It will guide you in making parenting decisions that will suit your child and help them grow faster. If your baby has high activity level, you should let them run around and play games before trying to read them a story. This way, your child will feel that you care and understand that you are accepting them for who they are, which helps to build their self-esteem.
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