How to Support Your Child's Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is what we all thrive on. It ensures we can complete tasks, focus on our work as adults, read, write and heaps of other requirements. But as toddlers this is something they have to develop over time from a young age. Children should be asking about complex themes, playing, having fun and talking often to their parents, friends and teachers to give them the skills they need. Here are some ways to help support your child’s cognitive development.

Play games with friends 

Friends at a child’s nursery or at one of these primary schools in Surrey will help your child learn to manage their skills at a pace that suits them. They are seeing first hand how they can communicate with their friends, have fun and also learn to listen to each other. At a young age it will take a lot of getting used to, but with more practice they’ll be able to develop actionable skills.

Give your child opportunities to do their own things
Being led by parents makes for a child that isn’t invested in their time and development. To lean into this more, we recommend letting your child take control of a lot of different aspects to keep them engaged. They may well make mistakes, and should be encouraged to so that they can learn from them. Further down the line you can see your child naturally develop their independence and confidence.

Encourage your child to ask “why”
A child won’t ever learn about the world if they don’t feel comfortable asking questions and figuring out answers. A common one is asking why something is the way it is, like why our grass is green, or why eggs taste great for you but feel disgusting for them. It’s a good time for children to ask all about our world so that they can find ways to further develop their curiosities.

Spend time reading stories
A child is much more curious and willing to explore their cognitive skills inadvertently when they pick up a reading book. They can also see the benefit in reading to you so that they can develop their literacy skills, as well as working on their speech developing, thinking abilities and other skills that rely on cognitive development. This also leans into your child’s creative side, where they can appreciate fictional characters, worlds and discoveries.

As we use these skills so naturally it can feel difficult to push this onto our own children. Thankfully there are many ways we can build their cognitive functions without too much change and give them the confidence they need in themselves.

*Collaborative post