We do manage to work on our child’s physical well being by making them a part of any sports team or following a balanced diet but do we pay attention to their mental health? Well, yes! Mental health is as important as your physical fitness.
Just as you let them play outside to make them physically active, do try to work on their mental and emotional well being as well. This helps them in making decisions in the future and keeps them focused. You must be thinking about how to do that?
In this post, I’ll discuss with you some brain exercises with kids that you can try out daily and see the results for yourself. These exercises will not only improve his mental and emotional health but they will help build their memory and perk up focus.
Use your passive hand
This is an activity which can strengthen their brain to a great extent. Try to make them use their passive hand to do some of the daily activities, for example, brushing their teeth, writing or drawing whichever they prefer. The active hand is used so often that only those parts of the brain are used to doing chores while when you are using your passive hand you are activating the other part of the brain. This use of the brain increases the neurological connections within the brain thus strengthening the brain.
Exercises
Some exercises that are a work out for the brain are; gravitational glide, an owl, lazy eights. Let him make eights in the air or on a piece of paper, it helps loosen his wrist and arm muscles and activate his creative side. Now for the gravitational glide; ask him to sit on a chair and stretch both his legs, cross his left leg over his right angle. Then ask him to take a deep breath and try to reach for his feet. This activity increases blood flow and also stretches his hamstring.
Learn new things
Try to enroll your kid in a class and make him learn a new skill. It can be whatever he enjoys like cooking, painting, music, dance or any other subject of his interest. Let him learn to cook; it makes the kid use his senses; sight, touch, taste, and smell, exercising many parts of his brain. Studies show that learning something difficult like music or a foreign language is really good for the brain. It stimulates your mind and increases activity in the brain. It also helps you to reason with your brain thus improving your brainpower.
Hand-eye coordination
An exercise for hand-eye coordination is the active arm. Ask your kid to stretch one arm and hold the other arm at a right angle to hold the extended arm, this will not only strengthen his upper body but will also improve his hand-eye coordination. For the fun part, hand-eye coordination can be strengthened by some activities like solving a jigsaw puzzle or painting. Take up any activity of your kid’s choice and start. Buy some jigsaw puzzles, sit with your kids and work as a family to complete it.
Sports
This is a really fun activity if you are interested. I have recently started playing badminton with my kids, not only is it entertaining, fun as a family but it really boosts the mind activity. Your kid will start thinking and acting fast. His body and brain reflexes will sharpen.
Drawing maps
If you think it’s easy for your kid to navigate through your neighborhood, try to make a map with him, it helps improve memory. Making a map using your memory helps stimulate the mind and sharpen memory. You can even try drawing a map with your kid, of your country and label different places. Or even making a map of the places you visit often.
Fun Games
Play with your child and make this a bonding time as well. Card and board games are like brain gym; try to teach him checkers or even chess, monopoly, Uno, Jenga. All of these games help build coordination, concentration and frustration tolerance.
Socializing
Socializing is also a great way to increase your brain activity. Kids always need kids to play with. You as parents are his most wanted need but to play with kids is a totally different experience. Arrange play dates, go to parks and meet new friends just so that he is playing with his scale.
I hope this article will help you with brain exercises for kids. If you notice your child struggling and these strategies aren’t helping, I would love to help you determine your child’s individual needs. Please reach out to set up a free consultation. We are here to support you as you help your child blossom!
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