Daily Brain Building Moments™ for Suggested Ages
Song Sounds
Suggested ages: 18 months - 3 years
When you’re out, listen for sounds everywhere. Do you hear a car horn honking? A dog barking? The “whoosh” of a bus door? Use these to make up a sound song: “Beep, beep, beep” or “Whooshhhhhh!” Invite your child to sing the sound song taking turns, back and forth.
Brainy Background™:
Your child’s brain is wired to pay attention to what’s new in their environment and how it fits with what they already know. By calling attention to details, you’re inviting them to be observant and to become a critical thinker.
Love Connections
Suggested ages: 2-5 years
Take turns talking to your child about love connections. “I love you as much as a bee loves flowers.” “I love you as much as ants love sugar.” “I love you as much as a car loves gas.” Ask them to come up with one. Keep going back and forth.
Brainy Background™:
When your child is challenged to find connections and make comparisons, they're learning new ways to sort and categorize information. These skills are important in math, reading, and science. You're also promoting creativity and a sense of humor.
Click here for more ideas on sparking connections on car rides.
Feeding Memories
Suggested ages: 0-18 months
When feeding your child, use that time to tell them a story. You can make one up or share something that happened when you were a child. When they respond to your voice and make a sound, repeat the same sound back to them.
Brainy Background™:
Your voice is your child's favorite sound. Even though they can't say words yet, they're listening and learning that sounds go together in words. This is an important foundation for language later on.
Guess the Meal
Suggested ages: 3-5 years
Instead of telling your child what’s for breakfast, give them clues. Instead of eggs, say, “We're having something that comes in a white shell, laid by a chicken. You can scramble them.” Take turns giving each other clues for foods as they learn the game.
Brainy Background™:
The challenge of a guessing game exercises your child’s brain. You’re giving them the joy and fun of thinking about what they know, helping them gain confidence as a problem-solver, and building their vocabulary too.
Story Snuggle
Suggested ages: 0-2 years
Your child loves snuggling and hearing your voice. Get close and cuddle with them while sharing a story or song. Use a calm, quiet, and soothing voice to help them fall asleep quickly. This can become a nightly routine that lets them know it is time for bed.
Brainy Background™:
Creating a trusting relationship, with feelings of closeness and security, sets up an environment for learning. Talk back-and-forth and share words and sounds with them in stories and songs. When you do, you help them become lifelong learners.
Favorite Moments
Suggested ages: 2.5-5 years
As you get your child ready for bed, think about your favorite moment of the day with them. Turn it into a dramatic story and tell them why it was your favorite. Ask them to share their favorite moment. Talk about yours versus theirs and what’s the same and different.
Brainy Background™:
When you share your experiences with your child, you're helping them learn how to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. Thinking about “what’s the same” helps them learn to form categories in their thinking.
Dry Dance
Suggested ages: 0-6 months
As you dry your child, rub their fingers and toes one at a time. Name each one as you dry them and do a little dance! When you dry a pinky, shake your hand. When you dry their toe, stamp your foot. Make up a new move for each little finger and toe!
Brainy Background™:
Being a part of the "Dry Dance" with you helps your child become more aware of their body, not to mention your playfulness and love. A loving, caring relationship with you supports their developing brain and thinking.
Animal Bath
Suggested ages: 2.5-5 years
At bathtime, invite your child to think about how animals or birds get clean. Ask questions like, “How does a cat wash its fur?” or “How does a bird take a bath?” Encourage them to reflect on watching a cat lick its fur or a bird splashing in a puddle. Let them take the lead by asking the questions!
Brainy Background™:
Asking your child to connect what they have seen to larger concepts (like getting clean), helps build their understanding of how the world works. It also helps them learn to ask questions about their experiences, like a scientist, and then look for the answers.
Checklist
Suggested ages: 3-5 years
At the market, point out the ins and outs with your child. Are they IN the cart? Is a worker taking fruit OUT of the box? Did you put food IN a bag? Are you walking OUT the door? Play often enough and they will get it and find ins and outs of their own!
Brainy Background™:
You’re helping your child begin to think and talk about where objects are in relationship to one other. This helps them organize their understanding of the world. It takes time to develop but it is important for doing math in the future.
Changing Faces
Suggested ages: 6 months -2.5 years
A store can be a great place to build your child's brain on the go. Give them something like a banana and an apple to hold. “Which is heavier? Which is larger? Which is softer?” You can do this with any item, in any aisle, in any store!
Brainy Background™:
Games like these help your child to think like a scientist. They're taking in the world around them and guessing how things compare or fit together. Repeat the game a few times with different objects for them to compare. Remember, repetition is how we learn!
Comparison Shopping
Suggested ages: 3-4 years
As you change your child’s diaper, make a funny face. How do they respond? Make another. Invite them to copy the look on your face. Then ask them to make a silly face and you copy it. See how long you can go back and forth!
Brainy Background™:
When you play Changing Faces, you give your child practice paying attention to details and remembering them so they can imitate your face. These are thinking skills your child will use in every area of their life.
Ins and outs
Suggested ages: 18 months - 3 years
Help your child develop routines around eating times, playtime, and bedtime. Help them make a chart for what they do when they wake up: Get dressed, check. Eat breakfast, check. Even look out the window and say, “Will you need a raincoat today?” Grab jacket, check.
Brainy Background™:
Having routines around the major times of the day helps children understand their experience and know what to expect. Predictability helps children feel safe and planning ahead is good for their brains.
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