Brains of our little ones undergo an amazing period of development from birth to three years of age. Producing more than a million neural connections each second. The development of the brain is influenced by many factors. It depends on the family, parents, caregivers to develop the right skills as we are their first teachers. How the brain grows is affected by the child’s experiences, the environment they grow up in and things they’re taught. 

To stimulate brain development you can do many activities with your little one like talking, reading, playing, etc. Here are some activities in our experience as parents that you could give a try:

Using Flashcards/Quantum Cards

Flashcards are a good way to develop photographic memory. Since the brain is still developing, their grasping power is much better than any adult and flashcards are an easy and fun way to develop the strongest memory- photographic memory. According to research, flashcards are used for brain stimulation.

Activities you could do:

1. Flash the cards 2-3 times till your little one starts to recognize them and then do a fun quiz activity using the information at the back of the card. 
2.  Play a Matching game with your little one, where they have to match the cards with their group. For example, you could use animals and mammals and ask them to match each card with it’s group
3. A sensory play with the help of Cards. For example, you could make a solar system sensory tub and ask your little one to speak about each planet with the help of the cards

Musical Toys

Musical toys are a great way to improve our little one’s auditory and imagination. By musical toys I don't mean the ones that play on their own by the press of a button. But, percussion toys and rattles. They will help in building hand strength as well and encourage our littles ones’ imagination as they can play their own rhythm and tunes

Activities you could do:

1. Use different rattles and ask the little one to guess the toy with each sound
2. Play hide and seek. The person who hides can have a toy with them and play it. The seeker then has to find you through the sound.
3. Create a mini band at home and sing and play and dance. #weekendvibe

Storybooks

Story books are a great way to improve language skills (Speech). Reading a chapter everyday can inculcate reading skills, little one might start to enjoy and develop their speaking skills. 

Activities you could do:

1. Post reading, you can talk about the parts of the story they liked and what is the moral of it.
2. Mix numbers and the number, the little one picks, is the page number of the story book (which they have read earlier) they have to read 

Pretend Play

Pretend Play is the best when it comes to imaginative thinking. Here the kids are whatever they imagine to be, be it a teacher, chef or even a dinosaur. They get to create their own stories and characters and play them out.