Keys to Enhancing Brain Development in Young Children

Think of young children in your life and imagine what they might become one day- doctor, teacher, astronaut, father, engineer, homemaker, farmer, mother. The world is open to each child, and parents and other caring adults hold the keys to opening the doors of learning and growth for children. 

Childhood is all about learning. The development of the brain and the learning connections within the brain are at the heart of learning for young children. How can parents and other caregivers foster a child's healthy brain development and enhance a child's learning?

Laying the Foundations of Learning - a Safe and Secure Environment

Establishing a safe, secure and predictable environment for children is the best way to create the foundations of learning in infancy and childhood. This is the first basic rule of building a child's brain development. What are some practical guidelines for creating such an environment?

1. Respond warmly and quickly to a child's cues for support and attention

Infants in particular need close, positive relationships with adults. Babies experience their parents' love and the love of others through reassurance and responses to their needs for food and comfort. Respond to a baby's cues.

Infants can't use words to communicate their moods, needs or wants, but they send signals: the sounds they make, the way they move, facial expressions, or even the way they seek or avoid contact. For example, babies might cry shrilly if they need a diaper change, an infant may look away when done playing, or toddlers might hold up their arms to be picked up.

Children become securely attached when parents and other caregivers read these signals and try to respond with sensitivity. Being responsive to children's signals for support or attention helps the children trust the world around them and does not spoil the children. An adult's positive responses allow children to become comfortable in interacting with others and their environment. So, by responding warmly and quickly, you are putting in place the connections in children's minds that let them trust and explore the world around them. Key aspects in responding to children's signals are:

• Sensitivity - Learn to be aware of children's signals. Watch for their signals and how you can respond.

• Timing - Respond quickly to children's signals rather than waiting for extended periods of time.

• Warmth - Be gentle and caring with children when responding to cues, which helps them feel trust.

• Appropriateness -  Try to give the right response to children's needs for support or attention. For example, watch a child to see if your response is what the child wanted.

Research suggests that children's development improves when parents follow a child's lead to provide appropriate responses. Parents and caregivers need to learn how to respond in ways that encourage continued learning that is matched to the child's capabilities and interests.

Example of application

When reading to a toddler, choose books with pictures that the child enjoys. Read only as long as the child seems interested, and involve the child by asking open-ended questions.

2. Hold, touch and snuggle with your child

Touch is a fundamental and important source of security to a child. If you deprive an infant of touch, the body and brain will stop growing in a healthy manner. Physical stroking helps premature babies gain weight more quickly and helps healthy babies digest food better. Babies cry less when they are held and carried regularly. Touch is an infant's lifeline to security, attachment and reassurance.

Touch also is important for growing young children, such as toddlers or preschoolers, who need the reassurance that comes from a hug, touch on the hand or "high-five." Children who do not receive caring, physical touches miss out on the affection that helps them form a sense of trust with others. Hold children on your lap or between your legs, put your arm around them, hug them or snuggle with them. Give them the affection they need.

Example of application

 Carry an infant in a carrier that provides physical contact, snuggle with children each night before bed or hug your children several times a day.

3. Beware of overstimulating your child

Some parents are so concerned with a child's brain development that they buy expensive educational toys, videos, computers and language tapes. What does research suggest? Save your money. Too many new experiences or too much stimulation can cause stress and hinder a child's development. Children need freedom to explore on their own terms and not be exposed constantly to high levels of stimulation, such as watching television.

The brain develops through hands-on experience during a lifetime, but stress can inhibit this development. Watch your children's signals to see when they are feeling overly stressed or stimulated. They will avoid, turn away, cover their face with their hands, hiccup, cry, become upset or become frustrated. Then take steps to reduce the stimulation and calm your child.

Example of application

Engage children by tickling or playing together. Watch their face. Do they stop smiling or laughing, become upset or turn away? These actions may be signals of overstimulation, and then you should slow the interaction down and make it more gentle.

4. Create a safe environment and reduce your child's stress by removing any physical threats (i.e., unsafe toys, abusive people, etc.).

Brain research has shown that too much stress early in life can affect development negatively. For example, stress and trauma can cause elevated levels of cortisol, a brain chemical, to be released in the brain. This can make the brain vulnerable to processes that destroy brain cells, reduce the number of connections in certain parts of the brain, and cause regions of the brain that regulate emotional response and attachment to be smaller than normal.