It is widely known that the crucial period of a child’s brain development is during the first six years of life. This is the ideal period for parents to do their utmost to stimulate their child’s brain both intellectually and emotionally.

At birth, a child’s brain contains approximately a hundred billion neurons which are not yet connected. The primary task of early brain development is to create the connections between neurons that will enable the brain to perform more complex tasks and advanced level thinking

Neural connections are established when children explore and experience their environment with their five senses, as well as through relationships with parents or anyone else they interact with. The more of these opportunities a child has, the more elaborate the neural connections become. Lack of stimulation and reduced social interaction can permanently damage a young child’s brain and this adverse condition is called neural pruning.

Recent research also suggests that keeping to the following simple guidelines promotes healthy brain development:

• Developing a warm, caring relationship with your child: A parents’ actions are very influential to a child. It is important for parents to make a child feel safe and secure, and know that his parents love and care for him.
• Challenging a child with quality questions: A child’s brain is easily stimulated by open-ended questions, which require more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Parents should maintain an ongoing conversation with children about what both of you are doing. For example, while reading a book, try asking him to anticipate what will happen next in the story.
• Encouraging safe play and exploration: A child learns best through playing and using their five senses. Parents should give them enough opportunities to play and explore things around them. Play activities are vital to the healthy development of a child and it is important that a child spends time with children of their own age. The ideal play for brain development is the kind that comprises sensorial, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional experiences.
• Understanding a child’s feelings and providing appropriate responses: Parents should try to recognize a child’s mood from his words and actions and respond to children when they are upset as well as when they are happy.
• Being positive: Try to avoid or minimize the use of negative feedback such as ‘no’, ‘wrong’ and ‘bad’ as it hinders a child’s thinking process. Parents should possess positive expectations of their child’s capability and believe he can succeed.
• Limit television-watching: Thirty seconds of watching television causes the human brain to produce alpha waves, which are associated with an inert state of being. The more television your child watches, the more time his brain is inactive. When your child does watch television, choose appropriate and high quality children’s programmes.

With thought and planning, a home can be the perfect environment for effective early brain-training for every child.