Here’s How to Encourage Your Child’s Development in the Early Years

As a parent, it’s natural to think about your child’s development. You will be keen to ensure that they are consistently on the right track and hitting the key milestones at precisely the correct time. While there are lots of books on child development and the steps that parents should be taking here, it’s tricky to know which advice you should follow. So, to put your mind at ease, we’ve gathered a collection of possibilities that you should keep in mind if you are thinking about your child’s development. 

Freeplay

First, you might want to think about letting your child explore opportunities for free play. We’re going to talk about toys a little further down but free play doesn’t involve toys at all. Instead, free play is about letting your child find things in a safe environment like the home or living room, to play with and use. This could be empty boxes, paper towel rolls or plastic bowls. You need to let your child explore using things like this. As well as improving their motor control, it will also ensure that they are effectively fueling their imagination and developing their ability to conceive ideas. 

Let Them Make Mistakes

It’s tempting to control every aspect of your little one’s life when they are younger to ensure that they remain safe and never get hurt. You might have killed yourself diving off the sofa in the past to prevent your child from stumbling when they are still nervous on their feet. However, it might be more beneficial in the long term to let them fall, slip or trip in a safe environment. After all, this teaches them to get back up on their feet while also helping them to learn from their mistakes. This is why you shouldn’t wrap your child in cotton wool as it were. It detracts from their ability to learn and develop. 

Toys

Toys are a great way to help your child develop. While your child doesn’t need expensive or complex toys for development, they will always make things a little more fun for them overall. It allows them to explore different ideas, create games, invent characters and interact with different objects. There are educational toys and toys that are designed purely for fun. Both are going to be great for your child in the long term and ensure that they do develop a wide range of skills. 

When choosing different toys, make sure that you check the reviews and descriptions. It’s important to select toys and items that are suitable for your child’s specific age group. This can also avoid issues with smaller parts that can be dangerous. 

Educational Activities

As well as letting your child engage and play with lots of different toys, you might also want to think about exploring other possibilities too such as educational activities. For instance, you can find some fantastic kindergarten worksheets online. While they are designed for a kindergarten class, they can be used by parents with their kids in the comfort of their home too. 

You might also want to think about other fun educational activities such as arts and crafts. You can get your child interested in art from a very early age when it just seems like they are making a mess. If you give your child a pen or chalk, they’ll almost immediately figure out how to draw and create marks with it. You can even get an aqua pen to ensure that things never get too messy. 

Exploring The Outside World

Another great way to encourage your child’s continued development would be by letting them explore the outside and surrounding world. You can arrange different trips with your child to new and exciting places. This might include a safari park or an aquarium. Even from a young age, your child may find activities like this engaging and exciting. Museums designed for kids are another great choice as is taking a walk through a forest. 

Friends And People

Various studies highlight the importance of socialization for human beings. Without the right level of socialization, it’s common for people to experience cognitive decline if they do not receive enough socialization in the later years and they may even experience trouble communicating. 

As a baby socialization forms the building blocks of both communication and creating relationships. Of course, babies don’t determine who they interact with and the people they meet on a daily basis. It’s up to you as a parent, to ensure that they engage freely with lots of different types of people. 

Part of this will be ensuring that they are interacting with members of your family but also your friends too. You also need to help them interact with children their own age. Arranging playdates with other parents is a great way to do this and you’ll find that opportunities for this develop naturally if you attend different social groups. 

Remember, it’s great if you can help your child interact with people from different social groups and ethnicities at an early age. This means that they will be familiar with plenty of different people when they are older. It can help ensure that they are more open and understanding of different cultures. 

Helping your child interact with animals is a fantastic choice too. It’s important for children to learn to be kind to animals from an early age and treat them with respect. 

Songs, Reading And Music

Finally, you need to make sure that you are regularly engaging with your child through vocally as well as different types of sound and noise. Studies suggest that sound can be important, even while babies are in the womb. We’ve all read the reports suggesting that you should play Mozart while you are pregnant if you want your child to have a high IQ. There’s no concrete evidence that this is the case but it’s clear the babies do respond to music and sound. Indeed, babies seem to quickly listen to different beats and are highly engaged when people are communicating. This is why once your little one starts to show understanding in speech you should communicate with them normally. If you maintain the baby sounds, they will too. They need to learn how to speak by listening to you. Ask them questions, respond when they seem to be talking to you and encourage conversation. You’ll find babies will pick up words far more quickly if you do this. 

Reading and music are also great ways to engage with your child. You can even sing them songs before they go to bed or when you wake up each morning. It’s a great way to start the day and immediately gets them on the right track for their continued development. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to encourage and boost your child’s development through the early years. The good news is that short of dramatic choices, it doesn’t matter what you do. Your child will develop as they should and hit the natural goal posts, regardless of whether it’s a little sooner or later than average. These steps will just ensure that you are giving your little one the boost they need and putting them in the right position to start their school days with a massive first swing. 

The key point here is to make sure that you are regularly interacting and engaging with your child in a wide variety of different ways. Do this, and you will always be on the right track with their development, as will they.