8 Ways to Keep Your Child’s Brain Sharp

During the last few decades, science and technology developed a lot and we became largely dependent on machines. While playing video games can have some benefits for the human brain, it would be great if your kid would engage in other, more efficient, brain-stimulating activities.

Of course, you don’t need to take away their iPad or phone, just try to get them interested in other offline activities. The outside world still has so much to offer, and activities listed below are some of the most popular and efficient ones when it comes to keeping your kid’s brain sharp.

Encourage Reading

One of the best ways for exercising memory and concentration is most certainly reading. This activity will engage important regions in your child’s brain, so give your best to develop a love for books in their early years. This habit will continue to follow them through life, and their mind will remain sharp and healthy.

Other than that, reading a lot of books can help your kids to learn about people and the outside world, and be well prepared for the life. Don’t force them to read. It is much better to be tactical and be a role model. It is more likely they’ll fall in love with reading if they see you reading every day.

Create A Healthy Menu

In order to keep the mind healthy, the body must be in great shape as well. That’s the reason why you should think twice before giving your kid some processed food. It’s ok to do it from time to time, but other days must be filled with healthy ingredients which will keep your kid’s brain healthy.

Always start their day with protein-rich foods such as eggs, yogurt, milk, and cereals. Your kid should be eating enough vegetables, fruits, and grains on daily basis, so make sure to provide them with those. The brain needs minerals and vitamins to be healthy, so go ahead and feed your kids properly.

Sleeping time

Going to bed and having a good night sleep is crucial for human health, and this is especially accurate when it comes to children. In order to improve their memory and learning, make sure to create a sleeping schedule and stick with it.

Grownups can remain sharp after approximately 7 hours of sleep, but kids need more. Namely, in order to properly develop and be sharp, children need to sleep between 10 and 12 hours every night. Therefore, provide your kids with good sleeping conditions, so no one can disturb them during their rest.

Communicate With Kids

Speech is one of the most complex human abilities and its brain region is taking a lot of space. That means that most of our cortex is used for speaking. In order to develop our mind properly, we need to talk with people and exercise that part of the brain.

Therefore, you’ll need to find enough time every day to engage your kids in conversation. Ask them about their day, what have they learned, and answer all their questions. Almost every minute you spend with your kids should be used for talking, so don’t let them play with their smartphones while you’re with them, but encourage them to talk and think.

Play Memory Games

Keeping a healthy mind doesn’t need to be boring since there are countless memory games available at the market. Sit down with your little one and choose your favorites. These games are great for improving concentration and memorizing skills so don’t hesitate to invest in a couple of them.

Besides memory games, it would be great if you can get your children interested in the ancient game of chess. This complex game is one of the best choices if you are looking for solutions that offer plenty of mental benefits. Chess is also considered a sport which has a positive impact on the body, so go ahead and buy your child their first board.

Limit the use of technology

As mentioned above, technology changed the world and is available on every corner. Most kids these days are learning their first letters and math principle while using tablets, laptops, and smartphones. While there are plenty of mental benefits in using tech devices, the time your kids spend with it should be limited.

Unfortunately, irrational use of electronics will slowly decrease kid’s creativity and productivity. Both of these are very important for proper brain development so make sure to encourage imagination and thought process while using electronics. Your kids should play in the mud, clean around the house, shoveling snow, and after they’re done, they can play some video games as a reward.

Encourage Special Skills

Extracurricular activities such as skating, swimming, football, basketball, and judo are great ways to keep your kids’ minds sharp. The discipline and habits they can earn during the training will teach them important life lessons and keep them focused and sharp.

It’s well known that the best way of stimulating mental activity is to do something physical. Your kids will look and feel better if they take care of their bodies, and will be much more imaginative and active. Playing video games and sitting in a cozy chair will slow them down and they won’t be able to think and feel as good as they can if exercising.

Keep Your Kids Busy

One of the reasons why kids spend so much time in front of the screen is that they’re bored. Parents are very busy these days and often aren’t paying enough attention to their children. Be a better parent and always find a way to stimulate their brain.

For example, if you’re working around the kitchen, create a little game and assign different tasks to your kid. You can ask them to count the number of jars on the higher shelf and compare that number with those placed on a lower shelf. You can also let them organize their toys and bricks by color, size or purpose. These activities will keep them busy while their imagination and concentration will keep improving.

Final Thoughts

It looks like having and raising kids in the 21st century is very hard, but there are so many options for sharpening the mind that wasn’t available just a few decades ago. If your kid really likes electronics and there is no way they’ll do something else, make sure to install just educational games on their phones which will help them train their brains. Playing simple shooting games won’t help them a lot, so go ahead and find somewhere they can train logic, reflexes, and imagination.

Of course, you are their role model and it is very likely they’ll imitate and do whatever you are doing. Therefore, the best recipe for sharp kids is to have sharp parents who love to read, paint, write, and go outside.