Milestones are worth celebrating. The sheer joy that filled my heart as my little one started walking. Watching your infant grow is an unexplainable delightful experience; I must say. It’s the same way for all mothers, right?
Growth rate does vary because every child develops at his or her pace. However, it’s worthy to note that you can jumpstart your toddler’s developmental progress. Thinking how? Do you know that a toddler’s brain has twice as many neural connections as an adult’s?
Although the first 3-5 years of your child’s life are the most important, your child’s brain developmental process spans throughout childhood as the creation of new neurons and brain-cell connections are established well before the age of 20. As your child grows, the environment, new experiences and fun activities help greatly to stimulate his/her cognitive development and that’s where you come in.
It starts with a simple exchange of language. Your one-on-one interaction with your toddler in simple daily activities like talking, singing, reading means so much. Further engaging in interactive games together will not only boost a healthy mother-child bond but significantly ignite healthy brain connections. As your child uses her brain, new cells are developed, and new connections are established between existing cells. Games are fun ways to learn, and some have been ranked quite high on the list of brain-training activities due to their ability to boost your child’s brain capacity while she has fun. Let’s have a look at some of these games.
Mazes are an instant hit with kids. The good thing is, there are several maze books out there for various age-groups. Get them and encourage your child to figure the way out. This is one great way of improving your child’s problem-solving skills.
When buying toys, choose toys like Jack-In-the-Box and other toys that can help your child explore while also promoting interaction.

Building patterns and structures with blocks is another brain-enriching activity for your little one. Make simple structures with blocks and encourage her to do same. Gradually ask her to make her pattern and you’ll be amazed at how skilful your child becomes with practice. Figuring out sizes and colour matches and what to make out of them is a way of promoting creative thinking.
Stacking blocks or multi-coloured rings helps your child understand cause-and-effect relationships as she learns the effect stacking larger blocks on smaller ones. Encourage her to keep trying as the blocks crumble.
Role-playing, jigsaw puzzles, painting, drawing and colouring are some other indoor games that will activate your little one’s creativity while outdoor activities like “Hide and Seek” and sand castle building will help develop her motor skills.
Try out these mind-boosters regularly. Mix them up and try something new often. The aim is to enrich your child’s mind with new experiences to keep her neurons growing.