3 powerful ways your child can have a sharper brain

Is your child showing a strong inclination towards joining their school’s musical band or even play the electrical guitar like Jimi Hendrix?  It’s high time you let them grow their skills. Research shows that when children start learning to play a musical instrument, their verbal and mathematical abilities improve. And it is equally exciting to discover that music helps maintain neuroplasticity in the adult brain as well!

To be scientifically precise, this works because the parts of the brain responsible for speech/reasoning and music have a number of common/shared processing systems. Therefore, musical experiences that enhance and enrich the common cognitive processing parts of the brain can positively influence the ability to correctly perceive language. Also, active engagement with music sharpens the brain’s ability to recognize, encode and store linguistic sounds (in memory). In fact, a scientific study revealed that children of the age of eight improved their perceptual cognition with just 8 weeks of musical training. By now, it should have become clear to you that an ability to perceive language will definitely help your child read and write better! But wait, there is something more to share! Music not only influences a child’s verbal abilities but learning an instrument can have a salutary impact on their intellectual capabilities (spatial reasoning, specifically). Interestingly, when children make music together, then the results are even better! Sebastian Kirschner and Michael Tomasello of Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany, report that 4-year-old children who made music together in a band showed an increase in spontaneous cooperation and helpful behavior. 

Okay! Perhaps it is enough of music already. So, now let us steer our gaze towards the last and maybe the most important technique that will help your child stay sharp and develop steel-like resilience.

3. Play Brain Games!

It’s high time you let your child play more games, and we’re not just talking about any games. Strategic brain games like math/logical reasoning puzzles and other brainteasers challenge your child’s brain with mental calisthenics.

And what comes out of it? Well, there is ample research evidence available to suggest that brain games lead to improved cognitive functioning among children as well as adults! When your child maneuvers through mental tasks, they use multiple areas of the brain at once (normally, we don’t use multiple parts of our brains while doing routine activities).  It is this cross-communication between different parts of the brain that stimulates neurogenesis – or the growth of brain cells. 

Additionally, higher-order problem-solving requires a combination of long-term memory, short-term memory, visual-spatial reasoning and sometimes, muscle memory as well. Simply put, your child’s brain is like any other muscle in the body – the more they stretch it, the more they strengthen it.  And this is not just some pop-neuroscience stuff – even the experts are talking about the benefits of playing brain games. For example, Simon Mccallum is an Associate Professor at the Gjøvik University College, and he says that when the players get deeply engaged in a game, where their skills are aptly matched against the challenges, they enter into a mental state of “Flow”. And this specific state of mind has positive implications for the mental health of the players. So, don’t wait for any further and start playing (and enjoying) brain games with your child! And if you are wondering where to start, then the ubiquitous Google Play Store can come to your aid. And if you are an iPhone owner, then you can go to Apple’s App Store and search for brain games.  The most effective games will already be popular – you just have to look at the ratings and the number of downloads (more than 1 million, maybe!). Now that you know the 3 powerful ways to help your child get mentally sharper, share this blog with your friends and let them know about your secret too.

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Conclusion

A child's brain needs to be nurtured with the right form of education to create the basis of analytical and sound reasoning, one such way is learning maths through these various mentioned fun and interesting activities, which not only keep the child engaged but also help in his overall development.

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