The Best Valentine's Day Gift for Your Child: Love and Play

This week is a time to decide what special Valentine to give your child. Should you buy the box of chocolates or the candy conversation hearts? Or would they really prefer the cute stuffed animal? But in these tough economic times getting those treats might not be a reality. However, you can get your child something they will like even more, love and time to play with you. It’s free, you have all the tools, and you don’t have to deal with the repercussions of a sugar high!

It really is that easy and inexpensive to give your child the best Valentine’s Day present, a parents love and interactive play. This is what a developing brain needs most. A child’s brain grows best from positive experiences in every day life. Incorporating them into daily activities is very simple. Since Valentine’s Day is devoted to letting people know how much we care, it is a great time to give your child the love and play time they will cherish and benefit from for years.

Here are a few special Valentine activities that you can do with your child and a description of how the brain grows with each activity:

0-1 year olds
Fuzzy Kisses
Play a game with a stuffed animal. Use the stuffed animal to give your child a kiss on the belly. Make a kissing sound. Next, you give them a kiss. Continue going back and forth.
A baby’s brain likes patterns. Having a fun loving game make learning fun.

1-2 year olds
Hide and Seek with a mirror
Hold your child in front of a mirror then turn away. Turn back to the mirror and say, “I love you”. Continue this fun game as long as they stay interested.
Showing you love your child through fun interactions makes connections in the emotional part of the brain. This is very important to develop especially in the early years.

2-3 year olds
Heart Hop
Using several small pieces of masking tape, make the shape of a large heart on the floor. Encourage your child to step on the dots and walk around the heart. Give ideas of different ways they can move: hop, jump, crawl, etc.
Movement activities help get more oxygen to the brain. The brain uses over 20% of the body’s energy, nutrients, and oxygen.

3-4 year olds
Find the Hearts
Create a hide and seek game. Use a deck of cards and hide the Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of hearts somewhere in the room. Have your child find all 5 cards. Next let your child hide them for you to find.
The easiest time for connections the brain needs to learn basic math skills is during the preschool years. Your child learns best while having fun.

4-5 year olds
Count and Sort
Provide a sorting activity. Give your child various conversation hearts (or various shaped cereal or macaroni) to sort by color (size or shape). Using muffin tins makes sorting easy.
The thinking part of the brain organizes by making associations with things that go together. It helps your child to think about how things are alike.

These ideas are adapted from brain development activity packets developed by Deborah McNelis. For more activities go to www.braininsightsonline.com.