Cognitive development develops at a rapid rate during a child’s early years. By the time they are 2 years old, their brains have grown to 75 percent of their adult weight, and by age 5, 90 percent. That is why during these early years, they must be given opportunities to be stimulated and challenged through intellectual games. Young children are naturally self-motivated, curious and eager to explore almost anything and to help them we need to provide them with concrete materials to manipulate, toys for example, problems to solve and the opportunity to experiment with the environment and encourage them to ask questions.
Children express themselves better when they play:
1. Fun games for children to expand their vocabulary.
Language develops rapidly during the early years, and language is picked up rather than taught. Use puppets, toy phones or walkie-talkies to encourage children to tell stories or what they have done during the day. You can draw eyes, nose and mouth on each finger and tell a story with your child. An example, I am a Monday and my favorite hobby is painting because they call me the Thumb and I love to dip into paint to form patterns on paper. What is your favorite hobby? The child learns a collection of words that help him communicate and this activity is fun and creative.
2. Fun games for children to develop their musical intelligence.
Children have their first experience with music when parents sing lullabies and dance with them when they were still babies. Music is important during the early years as it helps children bond socially, emotionally, and cognitively with people. Encouraging children to move to music or play musical instruments helps them control their fine motor skills and develops their hand-eye coordination. You can play this game which is fun for kids. Play any fast-moving song and ask children to hop like a frog and kick their feet as they jump, move like a train, wail as they go, or move like a worm.
3. Fun games for children to develop their literacy.
The story songs are rhythmic and fun and enrich children’s vocabulary through their short and simple texts. Nursery rhymes are an example of story songs and they stay with us as they pass from one generation to another. Children’s songs have a musical quality that incorporates the rhythm of language, patterns and rhymes in each verse that fascinates children to develop their language.
You can also play with your fingers while you sing a song from the story and there are many songs from the story that you can use such as ‘Five Little Ducks’, ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’, ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ and many others. “Five Little Ducks” show five fingers and so on.
Games should be brief and stop when children show signs of fidgeting or lack of interest. If you want more such activities to stimulate your children during these vital early years, you can visit www.gamesforfunkids.com for more such creative activities.