Newborns are such tiny, sleepy creatures that it’s easy to forget just how busy their brains are. From the moment they’re born, their three-pound mass of a brain is working around the clock to build a solid foundation for the rest of their lives. That foundation is known as the brain architecture, and future learning, behavior, and health depend upon it for success.
While genes certainly influence the development of a baby’s brain architecture, environment and experiences in the first three years are critical, since this is when the brain develops the most. As a parent or caregiver, the best thing you can do is engage with a child in a loving, supportive manner. This means responding to their individual needs, interacting with them during routine activities, and playing with them daily.
To demonstrate how simple it can be, First 5 California has launched its Talk. Read. Sing.® campaign, as these three activities engage a child’s brain in all the right ways. While talking, reading, and singing to a child too young to speak may not seem like the most natural activities, it is possible and can be a lot of fun. For example, talking to your baby can take the form of narrating the day’s events or telling them you’re about to pick them up, but it also should involve a back-and-forth, accepting their smiling, cooing, babbling — any sounds — as their own sort of response.
This post was created by SheKnows for First 5 California.
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