Cognitive activities for kids: 21 Best Cognitive Activities For Toddlers At Home (2022)

21 Best Cognitive Activities For Toddlers At Home (2022)

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Updated on June 24, 2022 by Lyric Fergusson

Cognitive development is responsible for the way that children learn new skills and absorb new information. Cognitive activities are an important tool to help toddlers to meet developmental milestones.
The best cognitive activities include memory games and things that involve concentration, attention, and understanding. We have listed some of our favorites that you and your little one can do from the comfort of your own home.

We have 7 free cognitive activities for toddlers at the end of the article that’ll give you even more ideas without spending a dime.

Our toddler, Kingsley, solving a puzzle with his aunt.

21 Engaging Cognitive Activities For Toddlers

• 1. Sing a Long with a Music Player

  Music is great for children’s development and teaching your little one to sing along to songs will incorporate that with word recognition and memory skills. Your toddler will love singing and dancing to fun nursery rhymes or Disney songs and it will be entertaining and pressure-free.

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• 2. Practice Sound Recognition with Animal Sounds

  Memory and recognition games are great cognitive activities for young toddlers and a fun way to combine these things is to teach your little one different animal sounds. This toy is wonderful for this activity because it allows them to play independently while still getting all the same benefits from this game.

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  3. Learn Letters with Flashcards

  It’s never too early to start building a strong basis in letters with your little one. Young toddlers can benefit greatly from practicing their letters with flashcards and other memory devices. Parents can work on them with their toddlers or they can work with them on their own and either way it will help with memory and attention.

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• 4. Learn Numbers with a Listen-and-Read Book

  This book is one of my favorite ways to teach my little one numbers. It allows them to learn independently as they hear and see the numbers and memorize which is which. Young toddlers love books so this is a great way to combine different cognitive activities into one great afternoon.

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  5. Practice Shapes with a Wooden Shape Sorter

  Shapes and spatial recognition are important developmental skills for toddlers and a shape sorter is a fun and pressure free way for them to practice both. As a bonus, brightly colored toys are great for keeping their attention as they learn and practice their shape skills.

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• 6. Practice Matching with Simple Puzzles

  Two-piece puzzles are a great way to let your toddler practice matching, an important cognitive activity at this age. Not only do these puzzles help with practicing matching, but they also aid in honing their hand-eye coordination skills. The best part of two-piece puzzles is that they are not overwhelming for a young mind.

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  7. Learn Colors with a Color Sorter

  Learning colors is fun and important for toddler’s development and a great way to make it feel like play is to let them explore a color sorter. This Mellissa and Doug toy is great because it combines color exploration with the ability to practice their dexterity.

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• 8. Understand Cause and Effect with Button Toys

  Cognitive activities don’t have to be complicated. In fact, sometimes the simpler they are, the better. Button toys are fun and entertaining for young toddlers and at the same time it helps them to build a strong basis in cause and effect. Bright colors and fun sounds are a bonus to help keep your little one’s attention while they play.

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  9. Get Artistic with Sidewalk Chalk

  Sidewalk chalk is a wonderful way to incorporate arts and crafts into your little one’s day without having to worry about the mess. Your toddler can enjoy creating brightly colored works of art while they practice fine motor skills and dexterity, both of which are crucial for cognitive development at this age.

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• 10. Practice Stacking with Wooden Blocks

  Letting your little one play with blocks and allowing them to stack them as high as they can teaches hand-eye coordination and balance. The bright colors and fun shapes make this a stimulating activity for your little one and will keep them entertained while they learn.

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• 11. Explore Textures with Touch-and-Feel Toys

  Learning about different textures is a fun cognitive activity for young toddlers and touch and feel toys are a great way to introduce this to your child. With these wooden puzzles, your little one can enjoy feeling the different textures while also putting all the different pieces together.

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• 12. Practice Fine Motor Skills with a Busy Board

  Busy boards are a fun way to let your little one hone2 their dexterity and fine motor skills while keeping them entertained. They can play with the different buttons, clips, and zippers and practice maneuvering the pieces in a way that just feels like play. This activity also helps them to prepare for getting themselves dressed as they grow up and become more independent.

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• 13. Imagine with Kitchen Toys

  Soft cognitive skills like imagination, creativity, and problem solving can be formed and improved through imaginative play. Giving your little one play food and dishes and allowing them to come up with their own creative combinations is a great way to make this a fun learning activity.

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• 14. Practice Balance with a Balance Bike

  When you think of cognitive activities, you may think of the brain instead of brawn, but physical activity has just as much of an effect on your little one’s cognitive development as mental activities do. Balance bikes are a wonderful way to incorporate physical cognitive activities into your toddler’s routine and it’s a great way to encourage outdoor play.

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• 15. Have a Scavenger Hunt

  Having your little one run around searching for items indoors or outdoors can help them with many cognitive skills including following instructions, object recognition, and attention skills. This is a fun activity for them as well as something that your toddler can do mostly on their own without too much help from you.

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• 16. Play on an Obstacle Course

  Obstacle courses are a fun way to encourage active play indoors and it teaches balance and problem solving among other important cognitive skills. Your little one will love climbing and exploring these large, soft blocks while they learn and play.

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• 17. Play with Musical Instruments

  Shaking rattles and drumming with drumsticks improves dexterity and is a fun activity for toddlers at every stage. Music is also an important tool for cognitive development for young children and whether you let them play along with music or by themselves, it will be a great way to entertain your little one and stimulate their mind.

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• 18. Practice Fine Motor Skills with an Activity Cube

  Fine motor skills are important cognitive skills for young toddlers to learn and there are luckily many ways to make learning and honing them fun and entertaining. Activity cubes are a great way to incorporate this into their day because it has enough variety that it will keep a busy toddler’s attention for a long period of time and it’s a mess-free option that parents will love.

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• 19. Play with Rolling Toys

  Rolling toys, such as toy cars, are a fun way to teach your little one fine motor skills as well as encourage imaginative play. Your toddler will love pushing their toys around and creating different stories while they play, and it might even inspire them to be creative. Don’t be surprised if your little one starts building ramps or other devices to play with their toys on.

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• 20. Learn About Emotions with Flashcards

  Flashcards are a wonderful learning tool for practicing cognitive skills and learning about different emotions is no exception. While toddlers don’t fully understand others’ emotions, it is never too soon to start allowing them to recognize the different types in themselves as well as others. You can show them the flashcards and tell them “she looks sad” or “he looks happy” and also ask them what emotion they see.

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• 21. Let Them Help with Chores

  Toy cleaning supplies are a surprisingly fun activity for young toddlers. This is because they like to emulate things that they see their parents or older siblings do. It is a great cognitive activity that teaches dexterity, responsibility, and how to follow instructions and, as a bonus, it might allow you some hands-free time to get stuff done.

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7 Free Cognitive Activities for Toddlers

Sometimes it’s handy, and even necessary, to be able to create activities at a moment’s notice which means using items that you already have around your house. We’ve come up with seven cognitive activities that you can do without buying any extra supplies that will help your toddler to learn in a fun way.

• 1. Do Sing-Alongs

  You can do a sing-along without any extra supplies by just playing some nursery rhymes on your phone or computer. After a couple of times listening to the same song, your little one will recognize the words and the melody and will be able to sing along at least a little bit. This activity is great for word recognition, memory skills, and simply building a love of music.

• 2. Practice Counting

  You can let your little one practice counting with almost any items around the house. If they are not choking-sized, you can set one to ten items out around your toddler and let them practice lining them up and counting. This is great, not only for learning to count, but also could help your little one learn organization skills.

• 3. Ask Them Questions

  An unexpected cognitive activity is to simply ask your toddler questions at regular intervals. These questions can range anywhere from “What do you want for lunch?” to “What sound does a cow make?”. This activity lets your little one practice problem solving and critical thinking and it can be done intermittently throughout the day. It is also great to give your toddler choices and let them make decisions for themselves as it teaches autonomy.

• 4. Play a Matching Game with Pots and Pans

  A great activity for your little one is to set out some of your pots and pans along with their lids and let your toddler match the lid to the pot. This teaches spatial awareness, critical thinking, and problem-solving and it could even turn into a musical activity if they start banging on the pots and pans when they get bored.

• 5. Play with Cups in the Bathtub

  Giving your little one a cup during bath time and letting them fill it up and pour it out can help with fine motor skills as well as simply being a fun activity to entertain them during an otherwise monotonous activity.

• 6. Let Them Play with a Remote

  Button toys are great for fine motor skills and dexterity development. Most toddlers would jump at the opportunity to play with a remote, an otherwise off-limits object, so if you can take the batteries out of the remote and let your toddler press buttons and use their imagination, this will make for an entertaining activity.

• 7. Stack Dishes

  Letting your little one get into your Tupperware cupboard may come in handy when you are looking for free cognitive activities. Stacking dishes has all the same benefits as stacking blocks so it’s a great way to incorporate spatial awareness and building skills into your little one’s day without having to buy the blocks. If they are contained to one area, cleanup should be minimal.

Conclusion

Cognitive activities may sound like they have to be complicated to be effective, but it’s quite the opposite. Simple activities will teach your little one crucial cognitive skills without overwhelming them in the process and may even give you a little bit of hands-free time. As a parent, we all want to set our kids up to have their best chance at success in life and these activities are a fantastic place to start.

Growing Minds With Cognitive Development Activities for Toddlers

During toddlers’ cognitive development, they are learning to better process and organize information, to form a baseline of understanding about the world around them. However, between two and three years, language acquisition and logical thought often lag behind a child’s curiosity and drive for self-expression. This can lead to a lot of frustration for the parent and youngster alike — that’s why tantrums at this age are so common.

The best cognitive development activities for toddlers integrate learning with play, which encourages better engagement and better results. You’re monitoring progress while your child is having fun, making these mental exercises productive and enjoyable for both parties. 

Cognitive activities for toddlers’ memory

Hiding and finding objects

Hide an object under a towel or blanket and ask the toddler to point it out, or shuffle an object between your hands. This helps develop short-term and visual memory, the ability to form mental images when an object can’t be seen directly.

Nursery rhymes, stories, and sing-alongs

Repetition encourages formation of  long-term memories, the patterns and sequences found in simple rhyme and song are easier for your young minds to follow. As the child grows more familiar with the nursery rhyme, story, or song, pause before the next section or cover up the next word and ask them to fill in the blanks. Songs with associated actions or choreography can help your child learn to react to cues.

Letter and number games

Letters and numbers are the foundation for language and mathematical reasoning, so it’s a good idea to acquaint your toddler with the alphabet and counting before preschool and kindergarten. Learn the alphabet song, play with alphabet blocks or magnets, or tape letter cutouts to objects whose names start with that letter. As far as numbers go, look for opportunities to count whenever you can!

Cognitive activities for toddlers’ logic

Simple routines and procedures

Between the ages of 2 and 3, a toddler should develop the ability to respond to simple instructions and start forming routines. When it’s time to get dressed, offer a choice of two outfits. When it’s time to eat, offer a choice between two different snacks. This way you’re feeding the toddler’s desire for independence while still remaining in control. 

Sorting sizes, shapes, and colors

Toddlers should be able to organize and classify objects — shape and color are two of the easiest ways to categorize. Have them sort colored toy blocks, shapes, or pegs from large to small or have them pick out toys of only a specific shape or color. Outside of dedicated play sessions, ask them to pick out or describe objects to you in these terms while going about your daily routines. 

Matching games and puzzles

You can base many cognitive activities for toddlers around relationships between sights and sounds (e.g., animals and the sounds they make) or how objects fit together spatially (e.g., a 2D or 3D puzzle with large pieces). Trial-and-error problem solving is often cited as a key developmental milestone.

Cognitive activities for toddlers’ imagination and creativity

Arts and crafts

Toddlers watch and observe the world around them with rapt fascination. They are especially interested in emulating or mirroring the activities of their parents or caretakers. Draw, paint, or mold something together or supervise an independent art project from a safe distance. A box of child-safe art supplies such as fingerpaints, crayons, chalk, scrap paper, and/or PlayDough in your household is a must. 

Playing outside and visiting places

It’s important to allow some unstructured (but still closely monitored) playtime to foster independent creativity and improvisation — playing out in the yard or at the park without the distractions or technologies of the indoors helps increase attention span and familiarize the child with the world around them. Go places and do things together and ask them about their experiences — their replies might be funny or even enlightening!

Variety

Over time, you’ll find toddlers staging more elaborate scenarios and scenes as new toys and objects are introduced. Outer space bake sale anyone? 

Without a toy or game in front of us, sometimes we have to create our own entertainment. Common household items like pots and pans or backyard items like sticks and twigs can be the basis of any of the games mentioned above. 

Different faces, different paces

Toddler cognitive development does not follow a set schedule — each child’s mental connections form at their own pace. Interaction and play can accelerate this process but does not guarantee it. If you are concerned or have reason to believe that your toddler has fallen behind, ECCM’s early intervention services can help get him or her up to speed. Do not hesitate to contact us.

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23 Best Cognitive Activities For Toddlers Development

Simple and engaging activities can help develop intellectual abilities in toddlers.

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When we are young, we acquire and develop cognitive skills continuously. These are the skills that assist us in processing and responding to information. Cognitive activities for toddlers aid in the development of these mental capacities, allowing children to read, learn, understand, recall, and focus more quickly.

Infants and toddlers keenly observe their environment and continuously think, learn, and experiment. Cognitive skills serve as the foundation for the development of a child’s social, emotional, language, and communication attributes (1).

In this post, we share the various aspects of cognitive skill development in toddlers and activities to help improve them.

At What Age Does A Child’s Cognitive Development Begin?

Your baby is learning as soon as they start observing the surroundings. For instance, a two-month-old baby can pay attention to faces and follow moving objects with their eyes. Infants and toddlers watch their parents or elders in the family, listen to the language spoken around, make cooing noises, taste foods, hold or grab objects, or cuddle with their caregiver. They learn in these ways (2).

Cognitive development continues till adulthood.

What Are Toddler Cognitive Skills?

As your baby grows there are various milestones of cognitive development. According to Jean Piaget’s  sensorimotor stage (first stage of ‘theory of cognitive development’), infants and toddlers between zero and 24 months of age interact with the world around them. These sensory and motor experiences help them develop cognitive skills.

At each developmental stage, your toddler will develop newer and more complex skills. Let’s explore the various cognitive milestones in toddlers (3) (4).

• By the time your baby is between nine and 12 months of age, they can sit, stand, crawl, and even walk with support.

• A one-year-old will have a better understanding of the world than they had during infancy. They enjoy looking at picture books, imitate gestures made by others, put one object into the other, manipulate them, recognize words, and respond with sounds and gestures. They also begin understanding the concept of object permanence.

• When they are between one and two years of age, they start to differentiate between ‘me’ and ‘you,’ identify familiar objects and people, and try to respond to words.

• Toddlers who are between two and three years of age show increased independence and learn a lot by exploring the world around them. Cognitive skills that most two-year-olds have are:

• • Imitation of their parent’s or family members actions
  • Name objects in the books
  • Identify their reflection in a mirror
  • Understand and respond to instructions given by adults
  • Ability to sort objects according to color, size, or type
  • Grab and lay building blocks

How Do Toddlers Develop Cognitive Skills?

As babies grow, the nerve cells (neurons) in their brains branch out and form a new connection every time they learn something new. Each neuron can have multiple connections, and together, they form pathways (5).

Imagine these neural pathways to be the wiring system in your house. Each neural pathway is a circuit. While some pathways, like those that control breathing and digestion are present at birth, other pathways result from cognitive development. It means that the more your baby explores, learns, and interacts, the more pathways are formed. The more these pathways are used, the stronger they become. New neural pathways are formed when your toddler picks up different skills at different stages of development.

These early cognitive skills lay the foundation for complex cognitive abilities that emerge later in life.

Engaging Cognitive Activities For Toddlers

You can engage your toddler in innumerable activities to boost their cognitive development.

1. Sing along

Music helps develop sensorimotor skills and cognition. Teach your toddler to sing after you or with a music player. It will entertain them and improve their social and emotional skills.

2. Practice animal sounds recognition

Toddlers love animals and are quick to pick up on their sounds. How about practicing animal sounds and asking your toddler to identify them?

3. Learn letters with flashcards

Using flashcards with toddlers is a great way to teach them and boost their memory. You can begin with letters and practice with them daily.

4. Practice matching simple puzzles

Get your toddler a two-piece puzzle that is easy to identify visually and enables your little one to use their memory and logic to complete them.

5. Learn colors with a color sorter

Colors are fun, attractive, and essential for your toddler’s cognitive development. Get your baby a color sorter and teach them how to use it. It helps boost cognitive and logic skills in your toddler.

6. Understand cause and effect with button toys

An important part of cognitive development in your toddler is understanding the cause and effect phenomenon. A simple button toy that performs an activity, lights up, or gives out a sound is a fun way to teach your child cause and effect.

7. Practice stacking with wooden blocks

Allow your toddler to stack building blocks in any way they want. It allows them to imagine and get creative. Giving them some suggestions once in a while is useful.

8. Explore textures with touch-and-feel toys

Toys for toddlers come in different shapes and materials. It is because toddlers are encouraged to touch and feel different textures and learn about them.

9. Pretend-play with kitchen toys

Toddlers have a keen sense of imagination. Providing them kitchen toys allows them to use their imagination and creativity in their play. It is also a good way to teach them about food, tastes, and smell.

10. Practice passing through a bike course

Cognitive skills in your toddler are not limited to their mental skills. Set up a bike racecourse in the garden or draw a course with chalk and encourage your toddler to observe and pass through the course accordingly. They can explore using their hands and feet in coordination to move forward, backwards, and turn around, which improves their ability to understand the reactions and react appropriately during an outdoor play.

11. Set up a scavenger hunt

The activity is more appropriate for toddlers around two to three years of age who understand instructions better. Set up a treasure or scavenger hunt for your toddler and give them a reward to motivate them.

12. Play with musical instruments

Babies are instantly attracted to music and sounds of all kinds. Playing with rattles, banging on utensils, and beating on a drum with drumsticks improve your toddler’s dexterity and develop a sense of sound and music in them. Get them a toy musical instrument and encourage them to play it.

13. Let them help with chores

Fun activities with your toddler can be a learning opportunity for them. Allow your child to help you in daily chores such as cleaning their toys and putting the toys in the bin. These will instill a sense of responsibility, improve dexterity, and teach them to follow instructions.

Cognitive Activities To Boost A Toddler’s Memory

Here are some easy and fun activities that can boost your toddler’s memory.

14. Hide an object

Hide an object under the blanket or shuffle it between your hands. Ask your toddler to find the item. Such activities boost your child’s short-term memory and visual memory and lays the foundation for object permanence.

15. Repeat songs and stories

Singing to your newborn or infant is recommended as the sounds and tunes could help in cognitive development. As your baby grows up to be a toddler, singing nursery rhymes, narrating stories with images, and encouraging sing-alongs are recommended. Once you feel your child is familiar with a rhyme or song, pause at a point and ask them to continue (6).

16. Practice numbers and letters

You can keep repeating letters and numbers, and once they are acquainted with them, you can ask them to recollect.

Cognitive Activities To Improve A Toddlers’ Logic

Though underestimated, logic plays a critical role in your child’s life as they grow older. Here are a few things you can do to help your toddler develop logical abilities.

17. Set up simple daily routines

Build simple and defined routines and procedures. Stick to schedules for the toddlers bath, lessons, food, storytelling, activities, or going to the park. This teaches them to relate to the sequence and they expect one after the other. The routine also inculcates a sense of discipline in the child.

18. Hand them sorting-based games and toys

By the age of two years, your toddler will be able to identify objects and sort them. To encourage and strengthen their ability to sort things based on different parameters, you can ask them to sort toys, blocks, animals, colors, or ask them to choose their favorite. The routine can be incorporated during your daily outdoor sessions with your toddler too.

19.

Give them puzzles

A great way to boost your toddler’s logic is by engaging them in matching games and puzzles. For example, a puzzle game where they need to match the animal puzzle piece with the puzzle piece of the sound they produce or a game in which different pieces fit in a specific, logical orientation.

Cognitive Activities To Boost A Toddlers’ Imagination and Creativity

Try these activities to boost your toddler’s imagination and creativity.

20. Get creative with art

Children are imaginative and creative. These traits are naturally present in them and can be further honed by creating art, crafts, and painting. For example, use playdough to make a miniature cat or dog and ask your child to follow your steps. After a few times, your child will create an object that they have seen or observed in the environment around them. A similar activity can be taught by asking them to draw or color. Use bright colors that are attractive to your toddler.

21.

Engage in outdoor play and short visits

Unstructured play is equally essential for boosting your toddler’s imagination and creativity. Take your child out to a playground or open space to allow them to explore the world outside. A visit to a zoo, a picnic, or a similar experience can boost your child’s cognitive skills.

22. Provide experiences

Start with smaller experiences, but as your toddler begins to grasp more, you
need to improvise and provide variety. You may well be sitting with a zebra, a lion, and an astronaut at a tea party hosted by your little one.

23. Get artistic with sidewalk chalk

You can stock up on materials that your child can use to get creative and keep them engaged. One such material is a blackboard and chalk. Let your child think freely and get creative while drawing on the board. It helps your child improve their motor skills, dexterity, and creativity—all of which are needed for cognitive development at this stage.

Unstructured Toddler Cognitive Activities Examples

While there are plenty of activities that can help boost your toddler’s cognitive skills, unstructured play or free play is equally important for their development. Unstructured play gives toddlers and children the freedom to imagine, explore, create, and play without any rules (7).

The freedom cultivates and boosts cognitive development along with physical and emotional development. Encouraging your toddler’s free play with children of the same age also helps build their social skills. A combination of structured and unstructured play makes children creative, innovative, imaginative, disciplined and helps them develop critical problem-solving skills as they grow up.

You can encourage your toddler to play outdoors to explore and interact with the world. However, toddlers can have just as much fun indoors. Some examples of unstructured indoor play include:

• Building with Lego blocks
• Playing with dough
• Playing with a kitchen set
• Playing with water
• Playing with figurines (cars and dolls)
• Playdates with other toddlers
• Narrating a story to friends or family members

Unstructured play is said to be an essential part of childhood and shapes the way your child thinks. Here are a few tips you can use to encourage your toddler during unstructured play.

• Keep lots of materials, such as age-appropriate toys, cardboard boxes, paper towels, blocks, storybooks, blank books, and playdough handy.

• Keep cognitive toys and books on shelves that are easily accessible to your toddler.

• Keep a designated space in their room where your child can just be themselves. It’s okay if they get messy while playing.

How Does A Baby Rattle Help With Cognitive Development?

Rattles are one of the first toys your baby plays with. While in the first two or three months, your baby is attracted to the sound and movements of the rattle when you shake it, from four to seven months, they are likely to hold the rattle by themselves (8). You encourage them to shake the rattle and make noise. By doing so, your baby learns the purpose of a rattle.

Once your child is familiar with their rattle, play ‘hide the rattle’ with them. Shake the rattle to make noise wherever it is hidden as it encourages your child to understand object permanence and motivates them to look for it. Even in the first two or three months of your baby’s life, the rattle noise is a concept that helps boost your baby’s cognitive development.

Other benefits of using a baby rattle for cognitive development are:

• Different rattles make different noises

• Your infant learns to grasp, hold, and move the rattle, helping them develop their motor skills

• Many rattles are teethers, too

• Toddlers learn to imitate adults by moving the rattle just like the adults do

Your baby can start to observe and process information around them right from birth. By the age of two, they can recognize people and understand instructions after learning simple reactions to various stimuli and learning to differentiate colors. Since the surrounding environment and experiences influence these developments, this is the right age for toddlers to engage in different cognitive activities. So, by involving children in these learning activities, you may help them accomplish these milestones and improve their sensorimotor experiences.

1. Is exercising a cognitive activity?

Yes. Exercising can help improve brain development and thinking ability, release growth hormones, reduce stress, and improve mood. Thus, aiding in the overall development of cognitive functions (9).

2. What type of exercise is best for cognitive function?

Cardio exercises such as running, dancing, skipping, and jumping can help improve brain function and aid in the children’s school performance and cognitive development. These activities also enhance your child’s learning, retention, analytical ability and focus (10).

Key Pointers

• Children’s cognitive development begins within the first 24 months as they observe and pick up on the actions of people around them.
• The development proceeds in different stages, each involving a significant skill achievement.
• You may help your child reach these milestones with activities such as sound recognition, familiarizing with numbers and letters, puzzle-solving, and more.

References:

MomJunction’s articles are written after analyzing the research works of expert authors and institutions. Our references consist of resources established by authorities in their respective fields. You can learn more about the authenticity of the information we present in our editorial policy.

1. What is Cognitive Development?, HelpMeGrow
2. Milestone Checklist, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
3. Milestones for a 1-year-old, University of Michigan
4. Milestones for 2-Year-Olds, University of Michigan
5. A. Morin, How kids develop thinking and learning skills, Understood.org
6. Growing Minds With Cognitive Development Activities for Toddlers, Eerie Country Care Management
7. Why Unstructured Play is Important to Child Development, HelpMeGrow
8. Ways to Use Rattles with Your Baby or Toddler, Care About Childcare at Utah Valley University
9. Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills; Harvard Health
10. Physical Activity Promotes Brain Development, University of Nevada

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Rohit Garoo did MBA from Osmania University and holds a certificate in Developmental Psychology from The University of Queensland. The zoologist-botanist turned writer-editor has over 8 years of experience in content writing, content marketing, and copywriting. He has also done an MBA in marketing and human resources and worked in the domains of market research and e-commerce. Rohit writes topics… more

Dr. Elena Shea was a physician at the Health Unit of the US Embassy in Rome, where she developed an interest in child health. She is now a breastfeeding medicine provider and literacy advocate for early childhood. She is from Florida but lives with her family in Washington D.C. Her favorite pastimes are reading novels, running, sending time outside, and… more

How To Boost Cognitive Development In Preschoolers

Cognitive development in preschoolers focuses on information processing, such as attention, memory, decision-making, language abilities, learning, and perceptional skills. Your child’s brain is quickly developing and requires a lot of thinking and exploring.

One of the best ways to promote your preschoolers’ cognitive development is through play and cognitive activities.

Mother and daughter enjoying some block play together.

Play And Cognitive Development In Early Childhood 

Play is a vital component of cognitive development in early childhood and allows parents to engage with their children. By building an affectionate and loving relationship with your child, you lay the groundwork and support for their development and learning.  

Through play, you can increase your preschooler’s cognitive skills and support their cognitive growth. Children learn in a hands-on, concrete manner, so lots of play and interaction are the best learning methods. Invite your child to use their imagination and creativity to solve problems.

As preschoolers play and use their imagination, they generate ideas. They use their creative skills to find different solutions for solving a problem.

The more your child plays, the more they test their limits, explore challenges, and fine-tune their decision-making skills. Through social interaction with adults and their peers, they begin developing their language skills.

Read more about Cognitive Development in Toddlers, What is Cognitive Development?, and What Are Cognitive Skills?

As we identified above, preschoolers learn best through play, particularly child-led play. However, all types of play, even adult-guided play, are beneficial.

When children play, they explore, think, create, experiment, learn how things work, and solve problems. As a matter of fact, children need lots of unstructured play that helps build confidence and resiliency.

Through experiences and interactions with others, they learn to share, cooperate, resolve conflict, negotiate, and make friends. 

Use these tips to encourage Your Preschoolers’ cognitive development

• Allow for mistakes. Young children are bound to make mistakes; that is how they learn. Naturally, we want to fix things; however, it is vital to give them space to make mistakes. 
• Celebrate their successes. 
• Encourage decision-making by allowing your preschooler to make choices, for example, “what they want to eat,” “what to wear,” or “what they want to play.”
• Engage and spend quality time playing together.
• Help them learn about friendship, sharing, and empathy by inviting them to play with others. Try these Easy Social-Emotional Activities For Preschoolers
• Inspire them to try new things or find different solutions.
• Invite your youngster to help with simple chores. Young children this age love to imitate adults and “help.” Build their autonomy and confidence by engaging them in age-appropriate household chores.
  • Younger preschoolers can help with the laundry by matching socks, sorting the clothes by type or color, and putting away their toys and blocks.
  • While older preschoolers can help in the kitchen by making simple snacks, helping set the table, clearing their dishes, and watering the plants. Remember, at this age, you will need to adjust your expectations and be flexible. It is not about perfection.
• Support problem-solving by giving them the time to figure things out and not rushing in with a solution. 
• Talk with your preschooler to build their language skills. Ask questions during play, like “What happens next?”
• Use your child’s interests to expand their growth and development; for example, if you see your preschooler becomes fascinated with whales, find additional resources, like books, crafts, games, or excursions (visit an aquarium) that support that interest.

Inviting children to help with simple chores builds their confidence and autonomy.

Cognitive Development Milestones In Preschoolers

As your child moves into the preschool age (3-5 years), their cognitive skills further develop. At first, their attention spans are short, and they may not complete a puzzle or sit through an entire game.

However, by the time they enter kindergarten, they should be able to finish a puzzle, play a full game, and begin learning the fine art of fair play, losing, and winning.

Whether your child attends preschool or plays at home, language skills increase, gross motor coordination improves, social skills progress, and awareness of their surroundings broadens during their preparation for kindergarten.

While they may not fully understand the difference between real and pretend, they are better equipped to observe and analyze their surroundings.

Children are like little sponges, and there is constant learning during this growth stage. They are always watching, exploring, and questioning.

Your preschooler is likely to ask many questions, especially “Why?” questions. They may begin asking sensitive questions about death, “where babies come from?” or upsetting news they see or hear.

Want to see what preschoolers’ cognitive Growth will look like over the next couple of years?

Before entering kindergarten, you can expect them to be able to:

• Balance on a beam or board.
• Be aware of gender.
• Climb a ladder.
• Comprehend the concept of time, like “past,” “present,” and “future.”
• Count 10+ things.
• Cut paper with scissors.
• Dance and sing a song.
• Do somersaults.
• Draw a 4+ body part person.
• Dress and undress themselves.
• Express what they think is going to happen next in a story.
• Hop, or they may skip.
• Kick or throw a ball.
• Know everyday items like money or food.

• Make friends.
• Name 4+ colors.
• Negotiate for things they want
• Play games like board games.
• Recall parts of a story.
• Recite address and phone number.
• Recognize and write their own name.
• Ride a tricycle.
• Run, jump, or gallop.
• Socialize and play with others.
• Swing on the swings.
• Tell a story using their imagination.
• Walk along a circular or straight line.
• Walk down and up the stairs.
• Write or copy numbers, letters, or shapes.

Cognitive Activities For Preschoolers 

As the parent, you can help increase your child’s cognitive learning by making available fun and playful cognitive activities. No structured agenda or lesson plan is required. Just plenty of time to play alone and with others expanding their experiences.

Use These Play Ideas To Support Cognitive Development Activities:

Puzzles

Age-appropriate puzzles build preschooler’s cognitive skills, like concentration, memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Furthermore, puzzles can reinforce sorting by color, type, or shape. Choosing a puzzle, concentrating on that activity, and completing it helps support cognitive control.

Card, Matching, Or Board Games

Simple card, matching, or board games like “Old Maid,” “Go Fish,” “Matching Game,” or “Chutes & Ladders” teach kids how to follow directions, take turns, share, and problem-solve. As your preschooler masters these games, you can introduce more games with complicated strategies, like checkers. In addition, when your child encounters a problem during play, it tests their judgment, reasoning, and ability to find a solution.

Other Games For Cognitive Development

When you are out and a board or card games just won’t’ do, try cognitive activities like “I Spy. ” What about spending the day at the park? Physical games are a wonderful way to engage. Test out games like “Hide & Seek,” “Red Light, Green Light,” or “Simon Says.” If your preschooler has mastered “Simon Says’, add a twist and have them do the opposite of what “Simon Says.”

Block Play

Preschoolers engaged in block play not only are having fun but also are exploring science and math. Children stacking or playing with wooden building blocks begin to understand wider, shorter, taller, higher, longer, heavier, and more. Explore more block play ideas with these Simple Block Activities For Toddlers And Preschoolers

Constructive Play

While it often includes blocks, constructive play is about experimenting with different materials and building approaches. Preschoolers learn to plan and assess their actions through trial and error. Trying new methods and modifying when needed is problem-solving at its best. Find out how Creative and Constructive Play Works Best When You…

Outdoor Activities And Play

Getting outside not only helps with gross motor development but also builds cognitive skills. Nature provides an awesome science lab for preschoolers. Go on a walk, create a nature tray or keep a nature journal. Check out these other Outside Activities For Kids.

Getting outdoors and engaging in outside activities for kids.

Mazes And Obstacle Courses

You can build an obstacle course or maze from simple household items. Grab a roll of painter’s tape and create a maze on your floor (test first), patio, or driveway for your preschooler to navigate. They can maneuver their cars, balls, or bodies through the maze using their cognitive abilities. Put up an obstacle course inside or out using tables, chairs, large boxes, or giant blocks. 

Singing, Rhyming, And Finger Play

Simple songs that include rhyming and actions help build cognitive skills; for example, the “ABC’s Song” helps them remember the alphabet. “I’m A Little Teapot” Or “Head And Shoulders” helps them learn to follow directions. Some songs introduce number concepts like “5 Little Ducks” or “5 Monkeys Jumping On The Bed.”

Reading

Daily reading is critical to cognitive development in preschoolers. Foster the love of books by checking out the local library or bookstore for children’s storytime. 

Telling Jokes

At this age, preschoolers start to really develop a sense of humor. Find a book filled with jokes or engage them by having them tell you some jokes. 

Storytelling

Encourage storytelling by alternating adding parts to a story or asking them to finish one you started. Incorporate these Simple And Powerful Language Activities For Preschoolers into your daily play.

Cooking

Invite your preschooler to help you in the kitchen. They can begin learning about healthy ingredients, measuring, and following directions. Looking at a recipe allows them to understand photo directions while building their reading and language skills. Start with simple recipes like “Ants On A Log” or “Bagel Pizzas.”

Imaginative Play Or Role Play

Many preschoolers are naturally drawn to pretend play. It is the perfect way to build their creative skills and imaginations. You are likely to find your child pretending to be something imaginary like a pirate, superhero, or princess. However, they may also act out familiar roles like grocery shopping, cleaning the house, or being a fireman. 

• Jump in and play, but let your child lead the way. Keep in mind you may need to adjust to your child’s creative process. 
• Imaginative play can be as simple or elaborate as you care to make it. Add basic dress-up props, like old hats, purses, or shoes from time to time. Need a crown, sword, or magic wand? Get the kids involved and try some crafts projects using paper towel rolls or construction paper. 
• Build a fort from jumbo blocks or put a blanket over a table and chairs.
• Preschooler running out of ideas? Feel free to prompt a new pretend play scenario. It might be based on real-life activities like shopping, caring for a baby, animal, or someone sick. Maybe it involves acting out a fairy tale, good versus evil, or some other silly idea. Learn more about the Benefits Of Imaginative Play & Why It’s So Important.

Acting out a familiar role like being a fireman.

Everyday experiences like talking, reading, or playing a game have the power to boost your preschoolers’ cognitive development, growth, and cognitive skills. So, no matter how you engage with your preschooler, whether through outdoor activities, unstructured free play, or cognitive activities like block play, let them be the leader. What cognitive activities for preschoolers will you try today?

20 Preschool Cognitive Development Activities

It may seem strange, but video game music has been proven to support concentration and cognitive development. After all, the songs were developed for people to be able to solve tricky puzzles and figure out complex levels in video games. These are also great to play with in the background as children are doing other activities.

Learn more: The Protector

Video Games for Cognitive Development

6. Monster Mansion Match

Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as healthy screen time. It may seem like having preschoolers play video games is not an effective way to build cognitive development skills, but studies have shown that games like Monster Mansion Match actually help develop these critical skills! Play this matching game to develop their visual memory and pattern recognition skills!

Learn more: ABCYa

7. Wild City Search

This fun game has children explore the city and practice both logical thinking and critical thinking as they help different creatures that live in the city solve problems. These skills are especially important as they develop those complex thinking processes they will use as they grow older.

Learn more: Plum Landing

8. Finding Feelings

Another important aspect of cognitive development is emotional growth. During these foundational years, children learn to read and understand the emotions of others. Promote that with this fun, engaging game using some of their favorite characters!

Learn more: Nick Jr.

9. Make Your Own Pattern

If you want to play a memory game, look no further than this game that focuses on remembering patterns. Pattern-building games are great for cognitive development. This fun game will have children engaged as they create their own patterns using animals in train cars!

Learn more: Education

10. Color by Letter

Studies show that colors carry significance in children’s cognitive development. Have them play this game to create beautiful, colorful pictures while learning their colors and their alphabet! This simple game is wonderful to add to any toolbox of cognitive development games.

Learn more: Turtle Diary

Cognitive Development Activities

11. Playing with Blocks

Playing with blocks has been proven to be beneficial to cognitive development for many reasons, including divergent thinking and logical reasoning. Kids will think they are just playing a game, but in reality, they will be cementing these critical skills.

Learn more: Gigi Bloks

12. I Spy

I Spy is a great game to play for the development of memory by searching for hidden items. Playing I Spy outside in the physical world also helps with spatial recognition and attention span! It is an easy game to incorporate into your everyday routine by having children look for everyday items around the classroom.

Learn more: Scholastic

13.  Morning, Day, and Night

Another cognitive development skill that develops during these critical years is the concept of time. Use this activity that has children match different activities with the time of day in which they do routine activities such as brushing their teeth! Encourage proper development of this skill by regularly mentioning the time throughout the day.

Learn more: Proud to be Primary

14. Puzzles

Doing age-appropriate puzzles is a great way to promote cognitive growth! Puzzles teach children the valuable skills of choice and strategy as they use their brains to complete each. As children get better, move them onto more complex puzzles to even further work those brain muscles!

Learn more: Momtastic

15. Riddles and Jokes

Another simple activity to develop cognitive skills is telling riddles and jokes. In childhood development, around this age children are developing a sense of humor and will love when you tell them jokes. Doing so encourages cognitive flexibility and executive function, and children won’t even realize it, as they will be laughing and having fun!

Learn more: Ducksters

16. Jumping Rope

This simple physical activity is great for boosting memory and teaching awareness of surroundings. The above link provides a number of different physical games to play with jump ropes for both gross motor coordination and brain growth!

Learn more: Very Well Family

17. Card Games

Playing simple card games is beneficial to children for many reasons. Not only do they help with cognitive development, but they are also important for developing social skills as well. Play the games listed and as time goes on, teach them more complex games to even further their learning.

Learn more: Novita

18. Read

Children have lots of questions, and this is mostly because they have limited experience in the world. Reading helps develop important skills by giving children background information about the world around them, allowing them to make sense of their worlds.

Learn more: All 4 Kids

19. Sand Play

Children learn a variety of skills through playing in the sand that we don’t even realize they’re learning! From hand-eye coordination to fine motor development, playing in the sand is a great way for children to learn as they play.

Learn more: Empowered Parents

20. Obstacle Courses

Using hula hoops, yardsticks, and anything else you have laying around, create obstacle courses for children to run through. These are great for gross motor development as well as getting out all the wiggles and giggles!

Learn more: Empowered Parents

8 Engaging Cognitive Development Activities for Toddlers

Here they are. All my favorite cognitive development activities for toddlers. These play-based activities are for at home or on a toddler classroom lesson plan.

In a hurry? Jump straight to the list.

Table of Contents

1. What is Cognitive Development?
2. What Cognitive Skills are Toddlers Learning?
3. Signs of Cognitive Developmental Delay in Toddlers
4. How to Teach Toddler Cognitive Skills
5. List of Cognitive Development Activities for Toddlers
6. Cognitive Development Activities in Daily Tasks & Routines

What is Cognitive Development?

Cognitive development is the building of mental and intellectual skills. For toddlers, this is thinking, learning, and understanding.

In the first three years of life, children’s brains are surging with growth, connections, and learning. Child development is holistic. This means all the learning domains are deeply intertwined with cognitive development.

Toddler Cognitive Development Skills

• Curiosity about the world about them and how they influence it.
• Knowledge about objects and how they work.
• Expanding attention to focus on activities longer.
• Pretending with objects and simple role-play.
• Learning numbers, counting, and “more.”
• Sorting. Noticing similarities and differences.
• More creative and complex ways to solve problems.

In a hurry? Jump straight to Cognitive Development Activities.

What Cognitive Skills that Toddlers are Learning?

Created with: Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Teaching Strategies Objectives for Development and Learning , and the CDC Developmental Milestones.

The development of each of these skills progresses through toddlerhood.

|

Executive Function

• Memory
• Reason/Logic
• Motivation
• Attention
• Persistence
• Following simple directions
• Finding hidden objects

|

Creativity

• Imaginative play
• Using objects in new ways

|

Recognition

• Identifying objects when they are named
• Understanding the purpose of familiar objects

|

Emergent Science

• Problem-solving
• Exploration/curiosity
• Cause and effect
• Observation

|

Emergent Math

• Spacial awareness
• Matching/sorting
• Counting
• “More”

You can use the CDC Milestone Tracker App or PDFs to follow the milestones your child is meeting.

In a hurry? Jump straight to Cognitive Development Activities.

How to Teach Toddlers Cognitive Skills

1. Ample open-ended play.
2. Developmentally appropriate toys and activities (fun with just enough challenge). Flashcards, worksheets, and most educational shows and apps are not appropriate for toddlers.
3. Read daily.
4. Process art activities.
5. Use open-ended questions.
6. Play outside. Especially risk-taking play.
7. Add counting into everyday routines.

Cognitive Development Activities for Toddlers

#1 Nature Play

Skills – emergent science, recognition, motivation, attention, persistence

Nature play promotes toddler cognitive development by giving toddlers an open-ended, sensory-rich play opportunity. Outdoor play has fewer boundaries, which allows for greater creative play and the use of executive function skills.

• Exploring outdoors
• Experiencing different weather
• Color Nature Walk
• Risk-Taking Play
• Fill + Dump with rocks, pinecones, or sticks
• Sink or Float with nature objects
• Moving through Obstacles – over, under, around, through
• Outdoor Learning Activities for Toddlers

#2 Loose Parts Play 

Open-ended materials for toddlers to manipulate and explore. For toddlers, loose part play is essentially “object play” where toddlers can learn all about the items they are exploring.

Skills – using objects in a new way, emergent math, emergent science, persistence, reason/logic, watching and imitating others

Loose parts play promotes toddler cognitive development because it is the ultimate open-ended play opportunity. Loose parts play aligns with how toddlers instinctively learn cognitive development skills by exploring, manipulating, gathering, and experimenting with objects.

• Themed Treasure Baskets
• Household Items – Access my idea list.
• Sorting Trays (or muffin pans!)
• Scarves
• Cups
• Plastic bottles and jugs
• Utensils
• Mirrors
• Electric Tea Lights
• Funnels
• Fabric Squares
• Boxes
• Lids
• Tubes
• Nature Objects
• Ramps

Loose Parts Volume 2 is the definitive guide on infant/toddler loose parts play. And the photographs are phenomenal. This series includes 4 total books to inspire and educate on loose parts play.

#

3 Imagination Games

Skills – imaginative play, motivation, using objects in new ways, memory, exploration/discovery, watching and imitating others, finding hidden objects

Imagination games promote toddler cognitive development by creating opportunities to role play, explore symbolism, understand others’ perspectives, problem solve, and explore objects.

The Ultimate Guide to Imagination Games for Toddlers.

• Dramatic play
• Cars, Trains, Construction, Tractors
• Dollhouses or small world play
• “Find the Toy”
• But really, check out the imagination games list for even more ideas.

#4 Books

Skills – identifying objects when they are named, attention, reason/logic, exploration/discovery

Books and reading promote toddler cognitive development by introducing early literacy skills, exploring symbolism, and learning about other objects, living things, and people.

• Find and discuss objects in the pictures
• Connecting stories to real life
• Explore the sounds of letters and words
• Emphasize rhyming and alliteration

#5

Sensory Play

Skills – reason/logic, emergent science, emergent math, persistence, motivation, exploration/discovery

Sensory play promotes toddler cognitive development by creating an immersive body-mind play experience. Sensory play allows toddlers to begin building early science skills.

• Sandboxes
• Water Tables
• Dough
• Sensory Bins
• Painting
• Experiencing New Foods

#6 Music and Fingerplays

Skills – memory, attention, following instructions, watching and imitating others, cause and effect, emergent math, emergent science

Music and fingerplays promote toddler cognitive development by connecting creative arts with the exploration of sounds, movement, spatial reasoning, and cause-and-effect. Dancing and music also let toddlers develop their vestibular and proprioceptive senses.

• Singing
• Dancing
  • Scarf dancing
• Musical instruments 
  • Pot and pan band
  • Rhythm sticks
• Fingerplays like The Itsy Bitsy Spider or I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

#7 Blocks

Skills – emergent science, emergent math, imaginative play, using objects in a new way, reason/logic, problem-solving

Block play promotes toddler cognitive development by giving toddlers the chance to practice creative skills, early science skills, and early math skills. Block play is a lovely balance of both a cognitive development activity and an imagination activity.

• Open-ended building with blocks
• Wood Unit Blocks
• Tree Blocks
• Stacking, lining up
• Magnatiles
• Rod and Ball Magnet Sets

Imagine Childhood is an online nature play store with incredible wood blocks sets for all ages.

#8 Close-Ended Toys

Skills – emergent science, emergent math, cause and effect, attention, reason/logic, problem-solving, persistence

Close-ended toys promote toddler cognitive development by building trial-and-error and problem-solving skills. Toddlers have to persist in completing a task and have an experience of gratification at succeeding.

• Puzzles – “Chunky,” peg, and knob puzzles
• Shape Sorters
• Gears
• Pegs and Peg Boards
• Bead Maze
• Stacking Cups/Rings
• Cause-And-Effect Toys
  • Pop-Up Toys
  • Hammer and Peg Toys
  • Toys with levels, handles, buttons

Close-ended toys should not replace other play experiences. Children can get discouraged and frustrated if the toy can only be used one way, and that one way is not developmentally appropriate for them. There is little to no creative development with close-ended toys.

Building Cognitive Development Activities into Daily Tasks and Routines

The learning experiences listed above will build toddler cognitive skills. But cognitive development should also be built into the daily patterns of your life.

• Counting with food at meals
• Sorting toys at clean-up time
• Water play in the bathtub
• Completing household chores together 
• Practicing dressing and undressing
• Singing in the car

What are the Signs of Cognitive Developmental Delays in Toddlers?

Talk to your pediatrician if your toddler is:

• Not pointing at items
• Losing skills once had
• Not searching for items they saw you hide
• Not learning familiar items
• Not mimicking others
• Not able to follow simple instructions

This is not a comprehensive list of potential delays. Always reach out to your pediatrician if you or someone you trust have any concerns about your child’s development. Remember, while checklists like the CDC Milestone Tracker help, there is no replacement for intuition. 

For those in the United States, you can also contact your local early intervention services for an evaluation. 

This helps me make sure I’m making the greatest impact with what I create. Thanks so much!

More recent posts

Development of children’s cognitive activity

The world that surrounds a child from birth is complex and multifaceted. To live in such a world, a small person needs to learn to understand the qualities and properties of objects, their purpose, various phenomena. The kid needs knowledge, with the help of which he will get acquainted with the phenomena of life, accessible to his understanding, he will realize what labor is. Every day a preschooler learns something new. Pay attention to how much information a child receives and processes in early childhood. The kid, often by trial and error, tries to find out, understand, remember everything. How to effectively develop the cognitive sphere of the child – read in our article.

• 1 Cognitive activity of preschoolers

• 2 Formation of thinking in children

• 3 Thinking Guidelines

• 4 Development of the speech of young children

• 5 Development of speech comprehension

• 6 Generalization function

• 7 Development of perception

  • 7.1 Watch the video on the development of speech and perception in babies

• 8 Forms of development of cognitive activity

• 9 Terminals

Cognitive activity of preschoolers

The child is a natural explorer of the world in which he lives. The kid discovers the world with the help of sensations, feelings, experiences, actions: he learns.

“That’s interesting. According to Lev Vygotsky, an outstanding scientist in the field of developmental psychology, the individual creative activity of a child will be productive if the child has seen, heard, read, participated in different events more than other children.

Improving the cognitive activity of preschoolers is one of the most important tasks in pedagogy. After all, if we want to educate an intellectually developed personality, then we need to create conditions for its self-development.

It is necessary to develop cognitive activity in children to activate their curiosity, inquisitiveness and increase interest in everything.

Cognitive activity is aimed at:

• acquisition of new knowledge, their assimilation
• mastering the necessary skills and abilities
• the emergence of the skill to reproduce and apply the acquired knowledge.

It is quite possible to form the makings of a researcher in a younger preschooler. Children of this age have a high interest in everything that happens around them. Every day on their way there are new objects that the children compare, recognize the names, strive to remember them. Keeping children interested in everything new can stimulate their cognitive activity all the time. Daily “rituals” can become the basis for improving the desire of kids for knowledge: getting up, washing, dressing, eating, walking, playing. An adult, being a guide to the world of objects and phenomena, tells the child about the purpose of objects and phenomena: from the field of nature, activity, things. So the baby receives the necessary knowledge about everything from an early age and, showing curiosity, develops itself. The cognitive activity of the child involves the development of his thinking, perception, speech and understanding of it, the formation of the ability to generalize, and other areas.

Formation of thinking in children

Thinking is not only thinking out loud with the help of words, but any mental process that is aimed at solving a person’s tasks.

A newborn does not have thinking. In order to learn to think, you need to acquire some sensory and practical experience, which is fixed with the help of memory. By the age of one, babies have elementary thinking. The main condition for the development of thinking is the education and training of children in this direction.

The developed thinking of the child is expressed in:

• mastery of objective actions
• speech development
• ability to solve problems (simple, and then complex)
• ability to understand adults and children
• sequential presentation of thoughts
• variety and consistency of forms of ways of thinking.

Basic types of thinking:

• logical – with the help of logical connections
• pictorial (or simply pictorial ) – by visual representation
• creative – an intuitive way to solve previously unknown problems
• visual action – through practical trials.

Thinking tips

1. Get creative. Drawing, modeling, games with the constructor have a positive effect on the development of the child’s imaginative thinking. And figurative thinking is the basis for the logical type of thinking.
2. Teach your child to reason. Build logical chains with your child – this way he will see how objects, phenomena and actions are interconnected.
3. Do math. Arithmetic tasks perfectly develops the ability to think logically.
4. Enrich your child’s vocabulary. Both everyday vocabulary and scientific (educational) concepts will help the child improve the thought process.

Speech development of young children

Speech and mental abilities of a child are interconnected. Therefore, wanting to intensify the cognitive activity of the child, to engage in his development of speech.

What should parents do?

1. Sing. A child who has recently been born perceives vowel sounds better, which are pronounced melodiously, in a singsong voice. That is why the mother should sing to the newborn: quietly, but clearly. It is believed that replacing mother’s singing with phonograms in infancy is not as useful as mother’s songs. Mom’s “performances” contribute to the development of speech, because the baby hears his native speech, its melody. In addition to singing, talk to your baby more often.
2. Respond to crying. A baby’s cry is not only a message of discomfort or hunger, it is also a call for communication. Dressing the baby, bathing him, walking with him – in all situations, tell him what you are doing.
3. Articulate. Your facial expressions and articulation will help your baby understand how to pronounce sounds and words correctly. So he will quickly master the speech.

Exercises that develop the speech of children of primary preschool age.

1. Imitation of sounds. We buzz, rumble, howl, hum and in every possible way imitate the sounds of animals, mechanisms and phenomena.
2. We train lips and tongue. Teach your child to lick a spoon and remove drops from it with the tip of the tongue, lick lips, stick out tongue, clatter like a horse, smack, spit.
3. We train speech breathing. Let the baby blow bubbles, blow on pinwheels and blow off light objects (pieces of cotton, paper or cloth, paper boats). Inhalation should be done through the mouth and exhalation through the nose.
4. Learning to focus on sound. For example, blindfold the child and ring the bell. Open your eyes and ask where they called (you do not need to remove the hand with the bell). The kid will show, and subsequently will reach for the bell with his eyes closed.
5. Recognizable by ear. Introduce your baby how individual objects sound: a drum, a spoon, a bell, a sheet of paper, a pipe, a rattle. Say the names of objects and demonstrate their sound. Ask your child to imitate these sounds. Next, close your child’s eyes and offer to guess which object this or that sound belongs to.

When developing a child’s speech using different methods, follow the rules:

• speak slowly, clearly, using short phrases
• daily read to the baby and describe the illustrations
• develop your baby’s speech in a playful way
• do not lisp, as the speech of adults is a guide to follow.

Development of speech understanding

All parents want their child to start speaking faster. This happens individually for each child, but it is generally accepted that a baby at the age of about a year should already speak about a dozen words, at a year and a half – at least 30, start speaking in sentences – by the age of 2.

An important condition for the beginning of a baby’s speech is its understanding. What can contribute to this?

1. Conversations with a child from the first days of life.
2. Reading and looking at children’s books, especially those with poetry.
3. Finger games. Stimulation of the fingertips sends an impulse to the areas of the brain responsible for speech development. Therefore, you need to massage the fingers of a six-month-old baby, as well as play special games with him, and offer children 1.5-3 years old to sculpt from plasticine.
4. The joy of adults. Rejoice when the baby says new words. It does not matter if they are not yet accurately pronounced. Support the child, do not interrupt him, invite him to a dialogue.

It happens that the baby understands everything, but does not speak until 2-3 years old. Such children should be dealt with using special exercises. For example, using ready-made aids for the development of speech for kids. 10-15 minutes daily will be enough to start the process of speech development of the crumbs.

“Council. It is important that the process of studying with a child is emotionally colored. The child should like everything that he does. In view of this, keep an eye on the mood of the baby.

Generalization function

The generalization function consists in the ability to compare objects, actions, phenomena, and also to find a common feature for them. This quality is the most important condition for mastering elementary concepts, and hence for successful learning.

A young child learns to interact with the world of objects. He comprehends the essence of large everyday objects, watches how adults use them, plays with identical toys, assimilating the actions he sees, learns to use different objects independently.

First you need to teach the child to recognize objects that are familiar to him, to distinguish them from each other, to find similarities. For example, a mother can show her baby toys that have the same name, but have a different appearance: for example, a doll is large or small, a ball is soft or hard, etc.

Parents should encourage their children to make sounds and words about what they see or do. Sometimes the baby has formed separate skills (eating with a spoon, drying himself with a towel), but he cannot identify and name the objects that he uses. To do this, the child needs to ask questions and associate activities with the objects that the baby uses.

Development of perception

Perception is the leading mental process in the development of the cognitive activity of a young child. Perception is a system of human reflection of the manifestations of the surrounding world through their influence on the senses. Consciousness and behavior of children determines perception. Memory, thinking and attention are entirely connected with perception: the child recognizes the objects that he perceives, establishes connections between them, perceives those objects that fall into the area of ​​his attention. The experiences of the baby are also dependent on the perception of actions and phenomena.

“In order to correctly navigate in the environment, it is important to learn how to correctly perceive both individual objects and in a complex.”

The simplest forms of perception are formed in infancy: the baby develops conditioned reflexes as a reaction to stimuli. A child of primary preschool age highlights attractive and bright objects, something unusual, moving, to which he emotionally responds.

The formation of perception is a difficult process that requires special attention, which is aimed at making the baby easier to navigate in the world, able to distinguish the subtlest aspects of the surrounding reality, and adapt faster.

With the help of games and exercises, you can direct the formation of perception in the right direction:

1. “To the touch”. Place a few simple objects in a small opaque bag: buttons, cubes, candy, a pencil, etc. Invite the child to guess by touch what these objects are.
2. Repeat. Build a tower out of cubes. Ask your child to repeat the construction exactly. This exercise can be done in the form of drawing: draw a pattern, ask to copy the same.
3. “Pick up the same item.” Prepare several different designs for a table lamp (or other object. Have the child find two identical designs.

Watch a video about the development of speech and perception in babies

Forms of development of cognitive activity

The main condition for maintaining the cognitive interest of children is a pedagogically competent selection of elements for the comprehensive development of the child.

Among the forms aimed at maintaining the cognitive interest of children, we can distinguish: form the direction of children’s cognition.

Dialogue and conversation – contribute to the expansion, refinement and systematization of children’s ideas about the surrounding reality.

Excursions – provide an opportunity for children to get acquainted with the richness and diversity of the world, learn to find connections, expand cognitive interests.

Classes with constructors – stimulate the cognitive beginning in the child.

Experimentation and experiments – teach children to transform the reality around them, to be aware of processes, to create something new; in the process of such activities, analytical skills are developed.

Collecting – aimed at supporting the individual cognitive interests of children.

Competitions, quizzes and other entertainment is a great way to use your knowledge, show ingenuity and resourcefulness, and success will support the cognitive interest of the child.

Each of these forms has its purpose. When choosing any form, it is necessary to take into account the age of the pupil, his individual characteristics and the pace of development. The use of these forms will allow you to build the cognitive activity of the child harmoniously.

Conclusions

Engaging in the improvement of cognitive activity from an early age, you will lay a good foundation for the development of a person who thinks independently, is able to come up with new ideas and effectively implement them in life.

Cognitive activity of preschool children: Development and Features

Content

• 1 How cognitive activity is manifested in preschool age
• 2 Methods and techniques of cognition
  • 2. 1 Experimentation
  • 2.2 Search activities
  • 2.3 Game actions and technologies
• 3 Stages of development of cognitively research activities of preschool children
• 4 Stimulation of the need for preschool children

cognitive activities of preschool children are aimed at posting everything that remains still. unknown to them. Much of what surrounds people in childhood seems incomprehensible and mysterious. Children with high cognitive activity do not wait for adults to explain everything to them in detail. They are taking steps to make their own discoveries and expand their understanding of the world.

How cognitive activity is manifested in preschool age

The child’s body, by its very nature, strives for activity and action. Already in the early years, an orienting reflex is manifested, which consists in the desire to find out “What is it?”. A need is formed to understand and “appropriate knowledge” (as psychological science formulates).

In the future, the cognitive attitude to the world around develops. The preschooler is interested in causal relationships. Numerous questions arise about the patterns of natural phenomena, about surrounding objects, about technical devices, about people’s relationships.

The main mechanism for the development of cognitive activity of preschool children is perception. This process becomes meaningful, intellectual. Perception turns into a cognitive activity with specific goals and methods for obtaining results.

A preschooler wants to understand how a mechanical toy works. He is interested in how a sprout appears from a seed. The child seeks to independently check how many oranges are required for one glass of juice. To get answers to such questions, children act.

Cognitive research activity develops intellectual feelings. The child experiences joy from the fact that it was possible to understand the question so puzzling him, surprise at learning a new one, amazement at an unexpected discovery, excitement in an effort to solve a problem.

Methods and techniques of cognition

The craving for cognition organizes the child. Cognitive interest, the need to learn something requires setting a goal and subordinating your actions to it. It is necessary to show organization, perseverance, independence and initiative. The development of cognitive processes acquires the most important quality – arbitrariness.

Activities aimed at discovering and gaining knowledge are associated with the arbitrariness of mental processes.

Cognitive communication with adults gives a preschooler a lot. Inquisitive kids pour in questions. This is the easiest way to expand your awareness. In communication with an adult, cognitive tasks are solved, but this method of obtaining ready-made knowledge does not give the awareness that the child needs. Therefore, preschoolers are looking for other ways to get information.

Experimentation

This form of cognitive activity is aimed at obtaining characteristics and qualities of an object or phenomenon that are inaccessible to direct perception. The idea to literally “get” knowledge belongs to the child himself. He independently, without the participation of an adult, sets himself a task and finds the means to solve it.

Children’s experimentation is extremely flexible. The preschooler tests the most incredible assumptions and uses unusual ways in his experience.

Can a shoe float, is it possible to eat soup with a fork, as mother’s lipstick draws – such questions do not tolerate dry answers. Children prefer to get answers to such questions on their own with the help of an experiment.

Trials are inevitable in experimentation. It didn’t work out that way, you need to check otherwise. A preschooler in this respect acts much more correctly than an adult. He is not afraid to make mistakes, but repeats his experiment, drawing conclusions and changing the conditions. “The shoe has sunk, the leaf is floating. How about the slippers?”

When conducting independent experiments, children learn to make assumptions and original judgments, analyze the relationship between cause and effect, and develop logical thinking.

Search and research activity

When a question becomes a means of independent cognition, the research activity of preschoolers is activated. Six-year-old children, reading and considering various children’s encyclopedias or observing various phenomena of life, formulate search questions. And they are actively involved in the search for answers. If a child attends a kindergarten, his opportunities expand, since the independent activity of children in a preschool educational institution is encouraged.

Exploratory research activity is well structured and consists of several steps:

• hypothesis formulation;
• choice of means of obtaining a response;
• actual action;
• correlation of the result with a hypothetical assumption;
• final output.

For example, puzzled by the question of whether dinosaurs could exist at the present time, a preschooler begins to find out at what time they lived on our planet, what they ate, why they disappeared. He puts forward his hypotheses regarding existence in modern conditions, looking for arguments for and against.

Game activities and technologies

Since a preschooler spends most of his time in the game, cognitive activity permeates game plots and actions. The game acts as a visual model of relations in society and gives a lot of information to the child.

On the one hand, the preschooler acquires important knowledge by performing various roles. But on the other hand, games are often created as an illustration of the cognitive process.

Children are interested in weighing with weights, they include this element in their story. They mastered the action of a compass – they draw circles for a new game.

At present, many knowledge systems intended for preschoolers are presented in the form of play technologies. Such a presentation is understandable and familiar to the child, and has established itself as an effective educational and cognitive activity of preschoolers.

Stages of development of cognitive research activity of preschool children

Let’s try to identify the stages of how cognitive research activity is formed in preschool children. Obviously, the propensity to survey and experiment for the sake of acquiring knowledge does not appear overnight, but develops gradually.

1. The first attempts at purposeful research activity appear in 3-year-old children. By this age, the child already manages to hold the goal, and not just manipulate objects. For example, do not pour sand with a scoop into a bucket for the sake of the action itself, but fill it to the top and pour it somewhere else. If for some reason the actions are unsuccessful, then the baby does not abandon his idea and persistently repeats.
2. The next stage is connected with the formation of the ability to examine objects more carefully. Attentive examination, highlighting the constituent details, attention to shape and size make it possible for a 3-4 year old child to notice something new, to discover unexpectedly important properties and connections. For example, a preschooler used to see a ladybug only in a picture, but on a walk he noticed an insect on the grass. The kid examines the bright insect with interest, watches how it moves along the leaf … But then the ladybug opens its wings and takes off, which incredibly surprises the young researcher. There was a real discovery for the baby, and new knowledge was firmly entrenched in his mind.
3. At 4-5 years of age, cognitive activity is not limited to simple actions, observation and questions, but is supplemented by experimentation, which is preceded by a simple analysis. The main motive is to gain new knowledge, and for this you need to consciously set a goal, complete a cognitive task, and even correlate the result with intentions. The information obtained in an independent experiment is only supposedly true. The child feels this, so he tries to find confirmation in the answers of the adult.
4. The highest level is represented by actual cognitive research activity at the senior preschool age. The main characteristics of this stage: the child masters a specific and precise statement of the question that requires clarification, and also formulates hypotheses, what kind of answer is possible. He is able to offer new ideas to solve the problem.

Stimulation of the need for cognition in preschoolers

All types of activities at preschool age need sensitive support from parents and educators. Especially the involvement of an adult will fill the content and direct the cognitive activity of children in a safe direction. The organization of the cognitive activity of preschoolers also consists in arousing interest in new knowledge.

Questions are born in a child when there is a contradiction between what he already knows and the appearance of some particular facts. Tell the kid admiringly looking at the butterfly that this beautiful insect was formed from a caterpillar, and this question will be raised by the child for several years. As long as the complex natural metamorphosis does not fit in the children’s minds.

Also, a preschooler necessarily turns to an adult when he wants to confirm the correctness of his conclusion regarding new knowledge. Much is still inaccessible to the understanding of the child, and he needs the help of older competent people.

Cognitive development of preschool children

Cognitive development of preschool children is an important part of working with toddlers. Being born, the child already has a cognitive orientation, which allows him to explore the world around him and adapt more successfully. Later, the orientation turns into cognitive activity – the state of the child’s psyche, when he is ready for action, a more active study of the world around him, during which he receives new information.

Thus, the cognitive activity of preschool children is formed. The development of cognitive activity of preschoolers is continuous. This is the most important stage in the construction of the cognitive functions of the psyche, which L.S. Vygotsky defined them as the highest mental functions. Gradually, activity turns into cognitive activity.

Content

• 1 Cognitive development
• 2 Cognitive processes and abilities
• 3 Development of cognitive abilities
• 4 Game as an instrument of development
• 5 Experiment
• 6 Search and research activities
• 7 Formation of speech
• 8 Speech and thinking
• 9 The value of cognitive development

Cognitive development

The cognitive activity of a preschool child manifests itself in the process perception and thinking. The cognitive development of children is the key to success in further education. Adults are characterized by a high degree of development of cognitive activity.

Cognitive activity is responsible for the formation of the initial image of the world in children, in the construction of which they participate:

1. The development of cognitive processes in preschoolers, which include memory, thinking, attention, speech.
2. Accessible to the child information and experience gained in the process of knowing the world.
3. Emotional reaction to various environmental objects.

The preschooler’s imagination, which is related to cognitive processes, also has its development in the process of the primary formation of the perception of the world.

In turn, the characteristics of the development of imagination in preschool children differ from those in the formation, for example, of memory, attention, thinking, speech, will, emotions.

Cognitive processes and abilities

The development of children’s cognitive abilities is the key to their successful exploration of the surrounding reality and, later, socialization. Cognitive abilities are natural sources of information about the world around us, given to a person from birth, but requiring continuous development. There are different kinds of cognitive abilities that are always interconnected.

The formation of each ability has its own characteristics, characteristic of a certain age. For example, the development of perception in preschool children differs from the same process in a schoolchild.

The leading cognitive process of a child is perception. Immediately after birth, the baby is surrounded by many colors, smells, touches, tastes. Other cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, imagination, speech, thinking, are connected later, but the primary is perception, the connection of the child with the outside world.

Cognitive abilities of preschoolers appear in early childhood. Later, abilities for induction, analogy, etc. appear in the human psyche. At preschool age, the baby is just beginning to learn about the environment, so it is important to properly guide and accompany him.

Development of cognitive abilities

There are exercises for the development of each type of cognitive abilities. The cognitive abilities of the child are initially involuntary. The kid does not control what to pay attention to, it is scattered. However, the older the child becomes, the stronger the development of arbitrariness – the most important aspect of the psyche. A preschooler can choose how to distribute attention or memory.

Poorly developed volitionality can cause major problems in learning, for example, it will be difficult for the child to concentrate on the teacher’s speech or the proposed task. He will be distracted by the slightest irritant. For such a student, the transition from gaming activity to the class-lesson system will be especially difficult.

Research by leading teachers and psychologists of our time shows that the best means of cognitive development of preschoolers is the game . It is in the game that the child best of all learns the reality around him, the development of the cognitive and research activities of preschoolers takes place. A person is driven by natural curiosity, the desire to find out what is happening in such a large and interesting world.

Play as a tool for development

Experts believe that it would be right to use games to develop cognitive interest in preschoolers. Therefore, there are, for example, games for the development of imagination, memory, attention, etc. In gaming processes, exploratory activity is most clearly manifested, because for a child, gaming experience is a life experience, for him there is still no division into “make-believe” and “seriously”.

The result of the game is the real development of the mental object. This is how the imagination develops in preschool children. As soon as imagination acquires arbitrariness, it becomes one of the most important cognitive processes, games begin to take on a plot character, and the development of thinking receives a powerful stimulus. The kid can already plan the achievement of a goal, imagine the result and the process of achieving it.

Experiment

Experimentation is an important stage in the development of cognitive processes. With the help of the experiment, the child suggests the result and ways to achieve it. After conducting experiments, the kid compares the results with his assumptions, that is, he analyzes his activities. Thus, this stage serves as a peculiar characteristic of the formation of thinking.

Experimental research activity of preschool children is formed in the game. Children are born researchers, they explore any object of the surrounding reality from various angles, which helps in the formation of real ideas about it. If an adult, parent or educator is present in such a game, he can prompt researchers for further actions and answer countless questions. The cognitive activity of a preschool child is manifested most clearly in such experiments.

In addition, the cognitive activity of children changes, memory, speech, mental abilities improve, experimental research activities affect almost all cognitive functions.

Research activities

There are basic rules that professionals and parents follow when organizing a cognitive research game. It is very important to make it integral, to connect theory with practice.

Over time, the child grows out of cognitive and research activities. The next stage of psychological growth is the search and research activity of older preschoolers. The teacher and the parent should be guided by a very simple principle – in order to understand, you need to try. The child must act, understand, be involved in the process. Therefore, in the process of search and research activities, an adult determines an algorithm of actions for the child to obtain the expected result.

However, another situation is also possible, when the initiative of the game comes entirely from the child and he himself plans its results, draws up an algorithm and follows it to achieve the goal. This situation is typical for children of older preschool age.

Formation of speech

In parallel with the formation of other functions of the psyche of children, the cognitive and speech development of preschoolers goes on. Experts consider this section of pedagogy one of the most important, since it is aimed directly at the mental formation of the child.

The better the speech is formed, the more successful the preschooler’s education will be.

Speech is not only a means of communication, but also a tool for understanding the world. Mastering speech is a complex, complex process that requires the child to exert all his strength. With the help of speech, the baby will interact with mom, dad, and other people around him. He gradually masters the signs that make up the language and which add up to a complex system of sounds, words, intonations.

The child first listens, analyzes the speech of others, gradually understanding, beginning to reproduce sounds and words. At every step, he encounters new objects of reality, and for each of them there is a conventional sign – a word. Later, he learns about the existence of written speech and that for each sound there is a special designation on paper – a letter. However, it should be remembered that oral speech is always primary.

Speech and thinking

At first, the child’s thinking is external speech. The child pronounces words denoting objects and actions, thus reasoning and coming to certain conclusions. Slowly speech moves from external to internal. The kid does not have to pronounce his chain of reasoning, he pronounces it to himself. The presence of the transition of external speech into internal is an important indicator of the formation of communication.

That is why the degree of formation of speech characterizes the development of thinking, mastery of the system of conventional signs and the ability to build one’s reasoning on the basis of the laws of logic reflected in this system.

A huge number of internal processes, which are cognitive development, would be impossible without a sensitive period. At the age of 3 years, the baby begins to develop especially intensively. Never in his life will a person face such a huge amount of the unknown as at this age.

The mechanism of the sensitive period allows the child to perceive a lot of information and even classify it, turning it into a primary picture of the world, and not into an unsystematic heap of facts.

There are methods that allow a preschooler to learn a foreign language, using in fact the same mechanism as when mastering a native language, with the help of perception. The child listens, analyzes and reproduces information in another language in the same way as in his native language.

Significance of cognitive development

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the period denoted by the term “childhood”. Many processes originate at this time, this age has a strong influence on the future life of a person. The child imperceptibly grows, acquires new knowledge, makes discoveries every day, enjoys them, experiences troubles, seeks support. A long and complex process of socialization begins, you need to look for your place in society and build relationships with people.

Parents, educators, friends and all those around you act as examples, teachers, mentors, rivals in this complex process. The child enters life, and this process is by no means as easy as it seems at first glance.

☀ Development of cognitive activity ☀ of young children ☀

Content

1. Neoplasms of early age
2. Features of cognitive development
3. Goals of cognitive development
4. Principles of intellectual development of the child. Helpful Tips
5. Video: Toddler Cognitive Development Program

It’s no secret that early age plays a special role in a child’s intellectual development. The primary image of the world is formed, the child begins to realize himself and his place in it. The first human qualities of the child are formed, which in the future will become the foundation of his character.

The perception of the surrounding world of the early – younger preschool period becomes more subjective – the child begins to have feelings for objects and phenomena, allowing him to separate the beautiful from the ugly, interesting from uninteresting.

Interest in learning is a distinctive feature of young children

Considering the increased sensitivity of the children’s psyche to external influences and the good quality of mastering new knowledge, skills, it is important to pay attention to various aspects of its development, including intellectual. Failures at this stage can have an extremely negative impact on its development in the future.

What activities should be developed first of all at this age and what should be given special attention? Consider the patterns of development of the cognitive development of an early age child.

Cognitive development of babies – structure and features

Neoplasms of early age

The development of active cognitive activity of children of early – younger preschool age is marked by the following changes occurring in the structure of the child’s personality.

1. Formation and development of self-consciousness . The child begins to gradually separate himself from the outside world. He develops such qualities as independence, curiosity, interest in the world around him. He is interested in everything that happens around and what surrounds him in particular.
2. Basic trust in the environment . It develops in the process of the child’s interaction with other people and the acquisition of the first positive experience.
3. Purposefulness . The child learns to direct his activity, structure it to achieve his own goals. Children form the concept of exactly what actions need to be performed to obtain a particular result and make the first attempts to follow one or another instruction. Purposefulness gives the child the opportunity to understand the meaning of cognitive activity and bring it to the end. By the beginning of preschool age, this quality should be formed.
4. Creative activity . Gaining experience of interacting with the outside world, the child begins to gradually transform it, manipulating and experimenting with its content. Therefore, it is important to encourage his participation in creative activities in any form.

Features of the development of young children

Features of cognitive development

In children of early and younger preschool age, they look like this:

Of all the processes of cognitive development of early age, perception is dominant.

It is most well developed, but still has an involuntary character. The imperfection of perception lies in the fact that the child is able to capture only individual qualities and properties of certain objects and still inseparably connects them with the conditions in which he is.

Perception – the main way of development of babies

Imagination in children under preschool age is rather poorly developed and manifests itself mainly in the form of anticipation of the possible results of a particular action. Creative imagination does not yet make itself felt. A positive feature of this feature is the inability to lie, which will make itself felt a little later.

Memorization of children is involuntary. Only objects that differ in novelty, brightness, contrast, etc. are deposited in the child’s memory. For successful cognitive development, it is necessary to gradually accustom him to purposeful memorization, the fate of separating what is significant for him from what is less important.

The predominant form of thinking is visual and effective. The child will acquire knowledge about objects through direct interaction with them.

Fundamentals of sensory development of younger preschoolers

By about six months, the child develops autonomous speech, which subsequently disappears and is replaced by more familiar, “adult” words. The volume of vocabulary grows: by the first year of life it is 10 words, by the year and eight months – already 100, at two years this figure rises to 300, and by the age of three it approaches 1000 – 1500.

the ability to speak not in separate words, but already put them into sentences. Their features are such that so far they are quite short and consist of 2-3 words.

The development of speech in preschool children – scheme

With more common sentences, the child begins to speak closer to the third year. And although the speech of children is far from always clear to adults, they most often manage to convey to them what exactly they need at a particular moment. By the beginning of preschool age, the child already has a fairly coherent speech.

Cognitive Development Goals

The objectives of the cognitive development of children at an early age are as follows:

1. Creation of an environment conducive to the intellectual development of the child. The child should be created conditions conducive to comfortable games, interaction with family members and peers.
2. The development of a child’s interest in the world around him and the events taking place in it. It is necessary to encourage the child to pay attention to what is happening around, in particular to share his impressions with his parents.
3. Development in a young child of the ability for active creative activity, various operations with objects. He must have creative materials at his disposal.
4. Expansion of the conceptual apparatus and ideas about the world around. To do this, it is very important to communicate with the child on simple topics accessible to his age. It is also desirable to watch educational programs and watch educational television programs.
5. Developing an understanding of cause and effect relationships and the factors that explain what is happening around the event. This is greatly facilitated by the answers to all kinds of children’s “why”. It is important to take any questions seriously, no matter how illogical they may seem.
6. Creation of conditions that encourage the manifestation of independent active activity in the child. It is better to allow the child to do this or that action on his own, even if not the first time and not in the best way, than to deprive him of the opportunity to take the initiative.
7. Formation of a benevolent attitude towards people and the surrounding world as a whole. A young child is still poorly acquainted with the rules of etiquette, but it is already important that he can build elementary relationships with others, including peers, master communication skills, etc.

Model of the developing environment for children 2-3 years old

Principles of intellectual development of the child. Useful tips

Taking into account the individual characteristics of the child in the process of activity is a prerequisite for the correct development of the child. Despite the fact that each age period should be marked by a transition to a new stage of development, they should not be neglected.

Features of memory development in young children

Tasks offered to a child of early (preschool) age must necessarily correspond to his level of development, take into account his characteristics and not cause excessive difficulties. However, do not forget that the child will quickly lose interest in overly easy tasks. The correct choice of the complexity of the task will directly affect the quality of development of his volitional qualities.

The regularity and systematicity of classes are the conditions for the success of any activity, non-observance of which will negate all their effectiveness.

The regularity of classes ensures an even and full development

It is much better to have regular short-term classes than to give them one day a week.

The child’s attitude towards lessons should remain positive. Tasks should be interesting to him.

The independence of the child must also remain an indispensable condition for activities aimed at his education and development.

The cognitive development of children of early and early preschool age follows similar patterns. Knowing them, you can help the child easily prepare for later life.

Video: Program for the development of cognitive activity in toddlers