BRAIN FACT: A Child Will Make Trillions Of Connections In The First Five Years

While the brain makes connections throughout life, a child will make trillions of initial connections in the first five years. Research demonstrates that play and interactive experiences in nature have a very positive impact on healthy brain development.

Carol Torgan, Ph.D has put together a extremely valuable list of over 200 resources related to play. You can enjoy it here. 

BRAIN FACT: The Developing Brain Learns Best Through Play

The developing brain learns best through play. Children need each day filled with opportunities to learn through fun and interactive experiences. Pushing young children toward academics is not supportive of optimal development.

"Play-based preschools and kindergartens show significantly better long-term outcomes, both academically and socially, than didactic and overly academic programs for young children. Yet false assumptions about the importance of learning discrete cognitive skills, such as decoding and phonics, at an early age have led many schools to adopt developmentally inappropriate practices in kindergarten."

This statement is included in a policy brief  from The Alliance for Childhood. HERE is the complete brief.

BRAIN FACT: Many Brain Connections Are Formed Through Physical Play

Physical activity provides many benefits to optimal brain growth. Through physical play many brain connections are formed.

Here is an article from Parents Magazine about the importance of play. 

Play: Where Learning Begins

When you think of a baby or child, what is it that they want to do most? They want to play!  Babies are born ready to learn, they want to explore, touch, taste, smell, poke, pound, and throw everything they can get their hands on. This is learning and this is what their developing brain needs.

Through “hands on” experiences young children are learning about their environment and how things work. Just realize that everything is new to them! They need to use all of their senses and try things out in various ways. Through play children find out they can make things happen and they have an effect on their world!

You will also see children do the same actions repeatedly. Through repetition the brain verifies that what it is experiencing is true.  Picture a child in a high chair with a ball. After learning about the ball through putting it in their mouth, the child will likely throw it on the floor. He will lean over and watch the ball bounce and roll. He will motion to have an adult give him the ball again. He needs to throw the ball again so his brain can see that it will bounce and roll again. After he has had enough food to eat, he may throw any extra food on the floor to see if it bounces and rolls like the ball did. He is learning about the similarities and differences between all the interesting things he comes in contact with everyday. His brain is making connections through all of these experiences.

To create optimal learning these connections need to be made through interactions with real objects. He will not learn how a ball bounces and rolls if he only sees a picture of it on a flash card. He also will not know how a ball feels by watching a ball on a video or television show.  When children are watching videos or tv this is a missed opportunity for real learning and strong connections being made in the brain.

Play also provides the opportunity for the development of a child’s muscles.  Wiring in a child’s brain takes place through the repeated movements of physical activities.  When children are watching television or even DVD’s that are said to promote learning, children are actually not learning as much as they could if they were playing instead. Scientific research demonstrates interaction creates much more brain activity than observing.

Play is natural. It is what children want to do. (It is actually what adults love to do as well) It is how our brain learns best and it is where learning begins. Play is essential to healthy and overall development.

Through The Week of the Young Child we can take the opportunity to ensure the children in our lives get enough play. We can also use this week to create awareness that this needs to be part of everyday for every child. It is necessary also to not only have play take place at home, but children need “hands on” learning and physical activity opportunities at school also.  Share and promote the need and benefits of play. And have lots fun!

I invite you to share any play ideas or additional information on this topic . We can all benefit from your comments.

For play ideas go to www.braininsightsonline.com for a new Family Fun Activity Idea every day. Additional posts on play can be found on this site here.

BRAIN FACT: The Brain Learns Best if Learning is Fun

Research shows that the brain learns best if learning is fun.

PLAY, LAUGHTER, OUTDOORS AND HEALTHY BRAINS…. SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

What a combination this is! I love opportunities to play, to be outdoors, and what is better than laughing?  (The only thing missing from this list of favorites for me is chocolate covered strawberries!)

Play is the way the brain learns best. When a child is using several senses, exploring, paying attention, and is trying things out in different ways, brain cells are changing and the child is learning.  The child needs to participate… not watch. The brain also needs trial and error and a lot of repetition in fun and interesting ways. All of this is provided through play.

Play also provides the opportunity to learn to get along with other people. When children play with parents or other children a lot is learned about how relationships work. In addition, playing with others can lead to laughter.

Laughter is wonderful for the brain.  Play and laughter activates the care and thinking areas of the brain. Laughing lightens our mood through reducing the level of stress hormones affecting our brains.  It provides a physical and emotional release. Laughter can also lead to creating closer connections with other people. Laughter is also contagious so we can share this beneficial brain activity with others when we are laughing. Just watch the clip from a previous blog and see if it makes you laugh.

Physical play additionally provides many benefits to the brain. It first of all increases the amount of oxygen to the brain. Research also indicates that safe rough and tumble play can positively influence the activity in the thinking part of the brain. Numerous studies show that providing physical activity during the school day is correlated with improved academic performance.

If play takes place outdoors there are even more advantages. As I posted yesterday, natural environments have a very positive effect on the brain.  Ironically as I am writing this blog, I received information about an article in, The Sun Chronicle entitled, Go where education’s free.

In the article, when presenting the benefits of playing outdoors, TheChildren & Nature Network is quoted as saying, “Children learn by doing. Unstructured time in a natural setting invites a child to explore, to play and to create.”

One of my recent favorite books on play is, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown, M.D.

Your brain will love learning more about the benefits of play.

To get easy play ideas to have right in your pocket you can go to www.braininsightsonline.com

Because as I repeatedly say, brain development isn’t complicated. What young children want all adults to know is, their brain learns best through loving interaction and play!

So, have fun, get outdoors, play, and laugh together!

Your Brain Needs Nature

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Northern Michigan. This trip provided the opportunity to conduct a presentation on brain development with fabulous people working on the GREAT START COLLABORATIVE project. It also gave me a chance to spend time in beautiful natural surroundings. My brain loved it!

Are you aware there is a national movement to, “leave no child inside”?  With increasing research the benefits of nature on the brain is being revealed. Not only does science show us the benefits but it is also creating awareness of the detrimental impacts a lack of nature plays. 

Brains are constantly in an anticipation and prediction mode due to the priority of safety. So the brain is primarily focusing attention on the environment and the people in it for safety and trust.  When we are in a busy environment filled with a lot going on and several things for the brain to monitor, notice, and keep track of at the same time it requires a lot of attention.  This takes a lot of brain energy and effort. This results in difficulty with memory and less self-control.

When we are in natural surroundings the brain can relax a bit since there is not as much coming at us at a fast pace that requires our attention.  Natural settings allow the brain to actually replenish itself.
Just think about the relaxation CD’s you might listen to. They usually include sounds of nature, such as birds, a babbling brook, or the sounds of waves. They do not include sounds of traffic, sirens, or a noisy crowed room of people arguing.

Research is demonstrating that even seeing a grassy area or trees outside a window can have a positive impact on the brain. One study found children in classrooms with natural sunlight coming in the windows or skylight scored better in reading and math than children in rooms without natural light. And, several studies have shown that children with attention-deficit-disorder are able to focus better and are less likely to have behavioral problems when spending time in natural settings.

During brain awareness week I feel it is critically important to include information on the impact nature has on the brain. There is much to be shared on this topic.  For further information you can read more about the studies I mentioned in a very informative article from the Boston Globe entitled, How the city hurts your brain… And what you can do about it.

Additionally you can go to the Children and Nature website for a wealth of information. Through this site you can also get involved with creating greater awareness of this critical need.

And finally, Richard Louv is the author of, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Following is a paragraph from this extremely valuable book.

“Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illness.  The disorder can be detected in individuals, families, and communities. Nature deficit can even change human behavior in cities, which could ultimately affect their design, since long-standing studies show a relationship between the absence, or inaccessibility, of parks and open space with high crime rates, depression, and other urban maladies. “

We need to ensure our children have the opportunity to spend time playing outdoors. The Thursday  Early Childhood Brain Insights blog topic is on the importance of play and laughter.  There is a definite need to focus on children playing outdoors. The National Wild Life Federation is involved with an effort to promote a “green hour” for children and the NFL is promoting “Play 60”   
For a brain focused outdoor play activity idea visit today’s post on www.braininsightsonline.com

Find time to enjoy a nature break for your brain. You will feel refreshed!

Brain Development and Reducing Obesity Through Routines!

Routines, sleep, nutrition, and limited (or no) television viewing are necessary for healthy brain development. Because of the positive impact on the brain, each of these essential needs are emphasized in braininsights® packets for every age 0 -5.

The developing brain needs:

• nutrition for energy and to function optimally. Feeding the brain well contributes to children who can attend longer and have calmer behavior.

• sleep to help keep the brain’s chemical systems in balance.

• interactive play rather than television viewing to develop valuable and strong connections between the 100 billion brain cells.

• routines to reduce the effects of stress. Chaos creates stress. It is comforting to the brain to have a schedule and know what to expect next.

The results of a recent study also demonstrate the positive impact these factors have on children’s weight. This study reveals that providing enough sleep, having family meals, or limiting television viewing can have a positive effect on preventing obesity.

Can you share this information with others? Let’s help everyone know how easy to raise children with healthy bodies and minds!

Family Meals, Adequate Sleep and Limited TV May Lower Childhood Obesity

ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2010) — A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time.

In a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines.

For healthy brain development ideas and further information go to: http://www.braininsightsonline.com

Smiling in Haiti? A Wonderful Example of the Need and Benefits of Play!

I frequently write and speak about the importance of play.  I also emphasize that children do not need expensive toys, gadgets, and programs to have fun and learn.  Play is natural and can take place anywhere.  The brain craves opportunities for fun and interaction.

This NBC story of children in Haiti is a fantastic example of the positive impact of play.  It is sure to make you smile!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To help the children of Haiti you can make a donation to Save the Children or the American Red Cross.