Top 3 Ways to Stimulate Brain Development

With the rapid development of the brain from birth through age 3, you may be wondering what you can do to nurture this growth. There are many ways to encourage the developing brain in the comfort of your own home. I have come up with what I think are the top 3 ways to stimulate brain development every day at home.

1. PLAY: Most know that children learn through play, but how we present the play and what we provide them to play with can have a massive impact on how and what they learn. I highly recommend providing a variety of toys with multiple open ended ways to play with them. For infants I suggest 4-6 toys out on a floor or low shelf where they have access to them, leave the toys undone and let them figure it out with your encouragement. For example a shape sorter with the shapes out next to the sorter, as they pick them up you can use describing words like, “I see you have the orange circle, can you put the circle inside the box,” then model putting a shape inside the sorter. It may take them a while to learn how to actually get the correct shape into the correct hole on the sorter, but they are learning so much internally before they can physically make the connections or verbally communicate. 
   
   For toddlers the idea is the same. I would suggest upping the toys to 8-10 with a variety. For example a puzzle (undone), cars, figurines like dinosaurs or animals, magnets and magnet board, a ball or balls, blocks, puppets etc. Don’t be afraid to offer a challenging toy or something new that they have never tried before. I highly recommend rotating toys every 10-14 days. By rotating you will create an exciting new experience that will keep your child engaged in play for longer periods of time. 
   
   
2. COMFORT: Did you know your baby can tell if you are stressed or frustrated? They will pick up on it and react accordingly. It is important to stay calm and offer them the emotional support they need to learn how to regulate their emotions. Have you ever noticed your seemingly happy (even smiley and laughing) baby start crying when they hear another child upset? This is the same idea. As they grow into toddlers you still want to help them regulate their emotions, but you also want to acknowledge how they may be feeling and let them know that it is ok to have those feelings. For example, let's say you have a toddler that is having a meltdown because they want to play with a toy another child is playing with. You could say something like, “I see you are feeling frustrated because you want to play with that toy. It is hard to wait, you will have a turn when he is done. Let’s play with this toy while we wait.” In this scenario you acknowledged the feeling, validated the feeling, and offered a solution. The comfort comes from them feeling understood and acknowledged. Remember infants and toddlers are learning everything from us, it is important we model the right language and ways of dealing with frustrating moments. That said, we all have a rough day sometimes and may not be able to keep a cool head, in these situations my best advice is to simply apologize using simple language and try to do better next time.   
   
   
3. READ: Reading in my opinion, is the best way to promote brain development. You can start reading to your baby from day one. Reading promotes language and communication skills. Hearing words and seeing the pictures in the book that go along with the words, will help the child form the necessary connections in the brain that make verbal and nonverbal language possible. So what if your child will not sit still for a book? That’s ok, keep reading, make it a fun stress free experience. Even if they are not looking at the pages they are still listening to the words. Make it engaging, do funny voices or even sing the words. As they grow, you can find books that go along with their interests. I also suggest leaving books accessible to them in their play areas, board books are great and hold up fairly well. When you notice them looking at a book, be encouraging and acknowledge that they are doing something good. Your child wants to make you happy, and is thriving on positive reinforcement. Libraries are great resources and most have fun kid areas to help reinforce the importance of reading. 

So there you have it, my top 3 ways to stimulate brain development. If you need help implementing any of these concepts or just have questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to help!I am a mom too and I know how difficult it can be to make sure we are doing everything we can to help our child grow and meet all their milestones. Remember you are doing your best, and if no one has told you lately, you are enough!  

​
By Stephanie, ​Pediatric Sensory Development.

​