If you enjoy indulging in TED talks about how to raise a smarter child or read books on how to become a better parent, you may have come across the speaker or writer comparing your child’s brain to a sponge.
That’s because, during the early years of a child’s development, children are so intrigued with their environment that they are constantly absorbing new information and are quickly able to learn by example.
At this stage, do not underestimate what a child is capable of learning.
If you’re are truly serious about raising a smarter child, you will not want to miss out on this stage of their lives where you as a parent are able to influence (literally!) how smart your child can become.
One of the best ways to do this is by using Brain Games which combine education with entertainment to increase their knowledge.
A big advantage of these games is that the child absorbs information in more than one way. Instead of just visuals, the engagement involved helps your child intake information verbally and visually enabling a better learning experience further cementing the knowledge in their minds.
Moreover, playing Brain games with your child can help develop language and social-emotional skills, boost creativity and imagination, and improve fine motor skills necessary for everyday activities.
To make this journey easier for you, we asked our team of experienced educators, academics, researchers, and specialists to identify three Brain Games that will help your child play, learn and grow up to be their best selves. Here is what they recommended
1. Train the Brain
No matter what your child plans to do professionally someday, it’s best to give them a head start by making them understand and identify the different roles people play when at work and how these roles make a difference in Society.
Our Train the Brain set of cue cards mixes real-life roles with fun animal characters such as ‘Web Designer Wolf’ or ‘Lawyer Leopard’ to help create a fun imaginary environment where you lay the foundations of a variety of vocations.
After playing the game a few times, you should be able to ask your child questions like – if I want to develop a website, who should I go to? and they will be able to answer.
Strengthening these associations will help your child improve vocabulary, think critically, solve problems that they would not be able to prior to playing the game as well as improve their decision making.
2.Find Me First
A perfect choice for family night, Find Me First is a thrilling, speedy object recognition game. A hit amongst preschoolers and parents alike – speed is the objective in this game and as your child continues to play, they will develop better hand-eye coordination, strengthen memory, develop better visual recognition and be able to pay better attention to the finer details.
3.It’s a Match
Every child loves to match and sort stuff!
But It’s a Match is so much fun that you may actually end up having more fun at the end than your child. It’s a match involves having a sharp eyesight and an even sharper brain as the game involves taking turns and finding exact matches between the cards that have been distributed.
Hint: The game isn’t as easy as it sounds since the cards have subtle differences and winning requires you pay close attention to the details.
It’s good to talk to your child about the observed differences in the cards, but also similarities. This will help them to think critically, be less impulsive, and to pay attention to different characteristics of things.
Overall, paying attention to detail is the name of the game here. The game helps develop better logic, working memory, visual recognition, pattern matching, and the ancillary benefits may even improve your child’s math skills*.
[*Australian researchers, Papic, Mulligan, and Mitchelmore (2011) have recently found that pattern awareness can be taught effectively to pre-schoolers, with positive effects on their understanding of numbers].
We hope you and your child enjoy these Brain Games. And remember, if you need help with selecting amongst these or a variety of other products we offer – we are just a message away.
