Give your child lot’s of different experiences in the first 3-5 years of life especially. Since this is such an important time for brain development you want to expose them to lot’s of different experiences.
Join a play group, take them to community playgrounds, join some kind of tumbling or gymboree class, go to the local children’s museum, the local zoo, a small petting zoo, a farm, or even just set up lot’s of fun activities to do in your own home.
Go exploring outside, blow bubbles, make a fort out of chair cushions, get one of these little ball pits
Give them a paint brush and a bucket of water, or hand them a spray bottle filled with water and a towel to wipe it up with.
All of these experiences are teaching them new things about themselves and their world as well as making those all important brain connections. Children learn by playing so have fun playing!!!
Photo credit: Flickr
Try to be patient when your infant throws an object over and over and over again. This is an important part of brain development, they are learning cause and effect.
When your child is older and still throws things have them help you pick it up. Or if they make a mess by coloring on the wall or spilling water have them help you clean it with a sponge or towel. My dd loves to help clean things, it makes her feel like a “big girl”.
I find that if I have her help me clean the mess it reduces my irritation and I think eventually she will get tired of cleaning and think twice before throwing all her food off the highchair. I could be dreaming but hey it’s worth a shot right?
This picture really has nothing to do with this post. Just my adorable daughter helping me make cookies on New Years Eve. And no, I did not make her help clean the mess!
My very first tip of the day is….
Make eye contact. It is one of the most important things you can do for your infant or toddlers brain development.
This week I am going to start a new feature called “Mommy tip of the day.” It will be something short and easy that you can do that day with your child. A lot of the tips will talk about your child’s brain development. The reason I think this is so important is because the first 3 years of your child’s life are crucial.
A baby is born with something like 100 billion brain cells. As soon as they enter this world those cells start making connections based on what they experience around them. A lot of the cells your child does not use by the age 3 they will lose. It is literally a “use it or lose it” scenario.
I hope you enjoy the mommy tips. I will try to post one every day until I run out. Then maybe I will put them into a calender that you can download.
*photo credit: big stock photo.
