y The power of p la ! play & learn
Parents and caregivers are always on the lookout for tools and activities that can help develop the young, curious minds of their children. Many can feel frustrated when they feel they don’t have access to such resources. The good news is that they don’t need to always go beyond the home to find these resources. The daily interactions that parents and caregivers have with children are the most joyful, active and meaningful ways of helping children to grow their brains!
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hese activities help to develop critical skills named ‘executive function’, which are like an air-traffic-control system for the brain; they manage the sights, tastes, smells and textures that children’s senses receive from their surroundings. “Executive-function skills help children to learn, hold information in their minds, control their actions, and follow a task through to the end. They help with success in school and in life,” says Sesame Workshop South Africa’s Director of Education and Outreach, Mari Payne. Parents can engage with their young children as they go about everyday life. Good examples include turning daily moments like household chores or gardening into playful learning opportunities by doing them together. Payne provides the following guidance and tips for positive engagement that naturally stimulates and develops a young child’s brain. These are grouped into age groups, remembering that each child develops at their own pace, and these are guidelines from around that particular age.
From birth to around 24 months
As little ones follow objects with their eyes, and cry when activities don’t change quickly enough, they’re showing signs that they are thinking and learning. Babies may begin to create pictures and ideas in their minds and make decisions about those pictures (for example, starting to remember that unseen objects are still there, such as an object hidden under a blanket).
Recognising familiar faces and sounds is a sign of their working memory in action, as their brains become more and more able to hold on to information for longer periods of time. Payne suggests the following age-appropriate activities for your baby or toddler: • Play peek-a-boo to help develop skills to differentiate themselves from the world and learn that they are separate beings and caregivers will come back even if they did not see you for a while. • Practice problem solving by playing with objects such as different shapes, blocks, and simple two to three- piece puzzles.
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