Every parent wants to raise the ideal child; when doing so, one of the key areas to concentrate on is the child’s cognitive development. Learning expressive and receptive language and how they process information and comprehend concepts are all parts of a child’s cognitive development. It also includes how they perceive the world around them.
A child’s first eight years are the core foundation for future success in school, health, and other areas.
Cognitive abilities are flexible, and there are several things to strengthen your child’s cognitive skills. In this article, we’ll delve deeper into cognitive development and discuss what you can do to give your child the best possible chance at developing solid cognitive skills.
Cognitive Developmental Stages
Children’s cognitive development occurs in four stages, including:
The Sensorimotor Period
This period of childhood, known as infancy, lasts from birth to about two years. Children at this age learn to communicate nonverbally through their senses and movement.
The Pre-Operational Period
This age range, which falls between 2 and 7 years old, is also referred to as toddlerhood and preschool age. In addition to becoming more expressive and beginning to use operational thinking, children in this stage can also preconceive and eventually use intuitive thoughts. Having speech therapy for kids may be appropriate for children in this stage to help with language development.
The Concrete Operational Period
This period lasts between 7 and 11 years. At this age, children start having well-organized, logical thoughts.
The Formal Operational Period
This stage begins at around 11 years, and children in this period can deduce possibilities and hypotheses and think abstractly and logically.
How To Recognize Cognitive Development in Your Child
You’ll start to see some things in your child as they get older that show signs of cognitive development. The following may be some of these signs:
- Game planning and forming relationships
- Having a grasp on ideas like “bigger” and “taller.”
- Asking many, notably, “why.”
- Beginning to laugh and enjoy jokes and riddles, as well as starting to understand some concepts of time.
- When they see something they want, they start negotiating with you.
- Speculation about what will happen next, for example, in a story.
Activities That Enhance Young Children’s Cognitive Development
Activities that enhance cognitive development in children depend on the learner’s age. However, here are a few general exercises that help young children’s cognitive development:
- Singing along with your kid.
- Asking your child a lot of open-ended questions.
- Playing make-believe games.
- Visiting museums or science centres with your family.
- Reading to your child every day.
- Allowing kids to solve problems on their own.
- Teaching kids how to play strategy board games
- Letting children explore the world on their own.
It is important to remember that only some screen time is suitable for a child’s development. Apps such as Moshi that offer bedtime stories for kids are perfect for helping develop a child’s creative abilities. The secret is to strike a balance between screen time and other forms of exercise.
Download the Moshi app immediately to see a change in your child’s sleeping habits, enhancing their cognitive development.
