Tips for Raising a Smart Baby – Part II

Baffled by the overwhelming array of smart infant toys, videos and books? Lighten up. All that an infant would truly need for boosting brainpower is his/her parents.

Smart Baby: To-Do Guide for all Ages and Stages

To assist in homing in on what could be done for encouraging an infant’s brain development at all ages and stages, here are several age-appropriate activities.

Age- Up to Four Months of Age

Reading, making different funny facial expressions; ticking the body; gradually moving items in front of the infant’s eyes (for example, bright-colored rattles), singing basic tunes and nursery rhymes that have recurring expressions; narrating all the activities one would be doing with the infant (like ‘Mom is putting you in the pram, we are going for a stroll’).

Age- Four to Six Months

Helping the infant cuddle stuffed toys, stacking items (such block-building) and letting the child tap them down; playing tunes having varying rhythms; showing the infant narratives carrying vivid colour images; letting the infant explore varied textures of items by feeling them.

Age- Six to Eighteen Months

Face to face interactions like talking which would help in increasing links in-between a sound and a word; pointing to recognizable individuals and items and repeating names; singing tunes having recurring stanzas and hand movements; playing hide-&-seek.

Age- Eighteen months to Two years

Playing basic identification games such as ‘spotting the red van’, ‘the pink rose’, or ‘putting 4 items ahead of the infant and asking him/her to hand over the item, always speaking directly to the infant; introducing the infant to a crayon, pencil and paper for promoting writing; asking ‘what’ and ‘where’ while one reads to the infant; encouraging the child to play independently with preferred playthings.

Age- Two to Three Years

Lavishing the tot with praises and encouraging him/her when motor skills are perfected, the child should be encouraged to employ novel ways of using toys which would help in boosting imagination, assist the child in incorporating real-life activities in his/her play like pretend-talking over the telephone, driving a vehicle, having a birthday party; during book-reading sessions, incorporating the tot into the narrative by putting forth questions; pointing to words when one reads to the child; encouraging the child to identify words on pages or their associated sounds.

Age- Three to Five Years

The child is to be taught sharing-by-example; playing basic board game types for fostering learning skill-sets and rules; limiting television or video viewing to merely an hour or 2 hours each day and watching along with the tot for making the session synergistic. As a child advances, offering him/her basic options like reading books or doing puzzles, limiting the usage of words like ‘no’ and encouraging exploratory and innate inquisitiveness; giving the tot deference and attention and being patient while the tot attempts in explaining a novel experience; setting aside time on a daily basis for sitting down with the tot and discussing what he/she has done during the day, encourage the tot in explaining and exploring novel experiences.

Tips for Raising a Smart Baby – Part I

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