Activities To Boost Cognitive Development

The first six months of your child’s life are literally the best, for during this period of time he will no longer be a newborn who can’t lift his head up and will turn into a small creature who loves to play and interact with his surroundings.

It’s true that your baby will grow and develop at his own pace; but you still can intervene to stimulate this pace through lots of games and activities.

Here are some of our favorite activities to help you build your baby’s cognitive skills:

• Give your baby opportunities to move around and explore his environment, like the opportunity to touch and feel toys and objects of different textures, such as fabric, plastic, wood and bamboo.
• During tummy time, provide your infant with toys of different shapes, sounds and colors to stimulate his senses and cognitive abilities, or toys with buttons that cause sounds or movements to play.
• Place your infant on your lap and look at him while you make silly funny faces so he will imitate them. Babies’ capacity to mimic facial expressions demonstrates their abilities to concentrate and repeat certain behaviors.
• Imitate or copy the sounds your baby makes so he will recognize and understand how much they are important to others.
• Play peek-a-boo with your little one to stimulate his mental development by teaching him that people and objects are permanent, even when hidden.
• From time to time, play classical music to your infant or sing him simple baby songs with phrases repeated over and over.
• Talk to your baby at all times and narrate him every step you’re making or doing together, as if you’re a news anchor or a documentary reporter.
• Ask your little one about the sounds/ noises he hears around during the day, like birds singing, car horns, and water running, so he will learn how to make a connection between the sounds he hears and the objects or beings making these sounds.

And last but not least, do not hesitate to read to your baby children books and try to catch his attention with different hand gestures, facial expressions and voice tones.

Read More: Brain-Boosting Games For Babies