One critical aspect to anyone’s health is how they were raised and nurtured while they were young.
This article will discuss why it is so important to promote healthy brain development in kids. It will also include a list of ways to help their brains develop healthy and properly.
Why youth brain development is important:
1. In the first few years of life the brain develops its “wiring” or neural pathways. They develop quickly and the health of these pathways depends on the baby’s environment and the people around them.
2. How well their neural pathways form will affect their ability to learn languages, solve problems, and do well in life overall. If they aren’t properly nurtured it can hurt them physically and emotionally. It can cause them to have trouble getting along with other people.
3. Severely neglected or abused children will most likely grow up with brain wiring that causes them major problems later in life. Trauma has been known to drastically change how people can live their life. The consequences can include drug and alcohol abuse, abusing others, lifelong mental illness, or actions that hurt themselves. They can become unable to work a job or care for themselves.
Now that the importance of healthy brain growth has been explained here are ways you can help your kids (or other people’s kids) grow up with healthy minds and emotions.
How to promote healthy brain development in children:
1. Positive experiences – Be responsive to the child, be nurturing to them, give them positive experiences, and make them feel loved and safe. Give rewards and praise often, respond to them with warm and kind voices, and try to keep a stable emotion when interacting with them. Don’t behave unpredictably with them, as it can scare them. For example don’t yell when you usually talk to them with a normal volume.
2. Fun activities – You can talk, read, or sing to your child. You can get on the floor with them and explore their world at their level. Encourage any new learning moments and reward them.
3. Balance human interaction with toys – Don’t just let your child learn everything from the TV, phones, tablets and toys. It is critical to their development to be constantly engaged with other humans and learn from them. It is more natural for kids to learn from adults in face-to-face interactions and conversations. They can pick up on social cues, learn gestures, learn facial expressions, and learn social skills.
4. Build a community – Allow your child to interact with many of your friends, family members, and even coworkers. As long as you feel safe around others it is good for your child to come into contact with many other people and to learn diversity and social skills.
Although these are just a few of many good tips they should help your child’s brain development. Even if you had a less than perfect past, your child has a fresh start and you can help them succeed.