Just like you make sure your little one gets the nutrients they need for their body to grow strong, it is important to feed and nurture the cognitive development of preschoolers. By understanding cognitive development in children, you can choose learning activities that will spark your child’s lifelong love of learning.
Understanding Cognitive Development in Children
Children’s cognitive development happens when their attention, memory, reasoning and other skills develop. Understanding the cognitive development of preschoolers lets you choose activities that meet them where they’re at.
Implementing Learning Activities at Different Stages of Development
- Infants and family face recognition: Identifying family in photographs is one of the top learning activities for cognitive development for early memory growth.
- Toddler puppet shows: Imaginative play like puppet shows help with symbolic thinking and social development.
- Mazes for older toddlers: Mazes expand your child's spatial learning and memory skills.
Types of Learning Activities for Cognitive Development
There are many different types of learning activities to grow cognitive development, from interactive reading games to memory exercises and logic puzzles that your child will beg to play again.
Reading
Reading activities help your child develop a strong vocabulary and confidence, along with important literacy skills.
- Alphabet puzzle and songs: Have your child sing the alphabet song and pick the letters out of an alphabet puzzle as they go.
- Fish cracker tracing: Write out the alphabet and let your little one line up fish crackers to trace the letter. Then they get to eat their work!
- Stroop effect activities: Have your child read a word written in a different color or say the color of the ink and not the word to build their focus and attention.
Learning
Learning activities are a great way to increase your child’s observation, comparison and intellectual development.
- Sorting small items: Give your child some paper clips and buttons to sort by color, shape and type to learn observation and comparison skills.
- Finger painting: Let your child dip their fingers in paint, naming each color before they add it to their masterpiece.
- Sink or float: In an intro to scientific method, fill a bucket with water and let your child hypothesize, then test, which small household items will sink or float.
Recall
Memory activities and games encourage skills like concentration and listening, which help your child in every avenue of learning.
- What’s on the tray: Show your child a tray of items like an apple, comb and sock. Cover the tray, and have them name the items from memory.
- Magic cup game: Show your child a small item under one of three cups, then move around the cups and have them choose the cup with the item.
- Drum beats: Tap a rhythm on a pot, then have your child copy the rhythm. Take turns being the follower and leader.
Logical Reasoning
When it comes to cognitive development, preschool logic and reasoning activities improve your child’s ability to think through problems and apply strategies to solve them.
- Guess what I have: Hold a small toy behind you, giving clues like, “it’s not red, it’s blue,” so your child can use deductive skills to guess the item.
- Is it true: Ask, “is it true?” questions, like “is it true the dog is sleeping?” After your child answers, have them tell you how they know it’s true.
- Same and different: Take any two household items and ask your child how they are the same and different.
Paying Attention
Help lengthen your child’s attention span, so they can absorb more in and out of the classroom.
- Story time lengthening: Read a page more to your child every few days to improve their listening attention span.
- Jigsaw puzzles: Jigsaw puzzles are a great single task that require concentration. Plus, it’s fun to help your child complete them!
- Bead jewelry: Your little one can weave beads onto a length of yarn to improve focus, concentration and fine motor skills.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Learning Activities for Cognitive Development
Don’t be surprised if your child tries a puzzle and stops after three pieces. They’re learning new skills, which will take time. Pay attention to their progress because maybe a week later, they will get to five or six pieces. However, if they repeatedly lose interest or get frustrated early on, you might want to find an easier puzzle, or try a “you do one I do one” method so they can improve while building frustration tolerance.
Strategies for Facilitating Cognitive Development Through Learning Activities
Cognitive development strategies include giving your child choices, such as asking them if they’d rather play “sink or float” or make bead jewelry. Similarly, taking turns being the leader and the follower in activities gives them the chance to practice both concentration and creativity while allowing them to feel like an active participant.
Overcoming Challenges in Supporting Children's Cognitive Development
- Toddlers get frustrated. Supporting cognitive development in early childhood without increasing frustration can mean simplifying more difficult activities.
- Life is overwhelming! Little ones get overwhelmed with too many new concepts. Gradually introducing new ideas will help them from feeling overwhelmed.
