You want your kids to be smart. You want your kids to be successful. But you don’t want to push your kids too hard.
So, the question you have is, “what can I do to promote intelligence in my child without subjecting him or her to undue stress?” The answer is to get him or her involved in intelligence-promoting activities.
Wondering how to make kids smart with such activities? Wondering which activities promote intelligence? Here are 9 of them.
1. Creating Music
Perhaps the best way to foster intelligence in a child is by teaching him or her to create music. Creating music is beneficial not only as a learning tool but as a creative tool as well. Not to mention, it allows for open expression, helping children to expand their imaginations and horizons.
There is no shortage of instruments that a child could play. The guitar, the piano, the ukulele, the xylophone, and the harmonica are all solid options. However, there are hundreds of others that could spark your child’s imagination as well.
2. Free-Form Playing
A mistake that some parents make is constantly shoehorning their kids into specific styles of play. For instance, a parent might force his or her child to play with blocks at a specific hour of each day. While it’s good to have structure, it’s not necessarily wise to always force your child into specific activities.
Why? Because if you plan all of your child’s activities, he or she will have no chance to develop his or her imagination and will have no chance to think for him or herself. As you might imagine, this is detrimental to a child’s development.
So, what can you do? You can allow your child free-form playing sessions.
Carve out 30 minutes to an hour each day in which your child is allowed to play with whatever he or she wants. This will foster independence, imagination, and critical thinking skills.
3. Playing Video Games
Convention wisdom goes that video games are bad for a child’s intellectual development. In this case, conventional wisdom is wrong. While your child shouldn’t be playing video games at all hours of the day, he or she could absolutely benefit from playing them in a controlled manner.
Video games offer a number of benefits. In addition to fostering creativity, they also promote problem-solving, improve mental reflexes, and endorse learning.
Give your child an hour or so every day to indulge in a video game of his or her choice. Note, however, that it’s probably a good idea to save the violent games for a later date.
4. Reading Books
As you might expect, reading is great for kids’ intelligence. Not only does reading help a child’s mind to become more agile, but it also fosters creativity.
Any form of reading is beneficial, whether it be the newspaper, a fiction book, a non-fiction book, or a magazine. However, literature of a high reading level could result in enhanced vocabulary and grammar usage, making it particularly beneficial.
5. Learning New Languages
Another activity which can promote intelligence in your child is the learning of a new language. Learning a new language will have a number of benefits in your child, improving his or her understanding of grammar, improving his or her problem-solving skills, and giving him or her a more worldly perspective.
Any language is on the table. In fact, humans learn new languages the easiest when they’re at a young age. So, don’t be afraid to try a challenging one. To help your child learn a language you can visit Lovlan language tutor.
6. Exercising
Gaining intelligence isn’t just about repetition. It’s about the physical processes of the brain as well. There are a number of things your child can do to promote physical brain growth, one of the most important of which is exercise.
Not only does exercise help the brain to grow physically, but it also assists in the development of important hormones. As such, the more exercise a child gets, the more intelligent he or she becomes.
Children are advised to exercise for 60 minutes every day. This can include anything from fast walking to playing on the playground to participating in sports.
7. Cooking
Cooking is another activity which can promote intelligence in children. Not only does it facilitate problem-solving, but it also helps kids learn how to follow directions.
Not to mention, it informs kids of what they’re consuming, helping them to become more health-conscious. This, in turn, promotes a healthier diet, benefiting the brain on a physical level.
So, fire up that oven and get out those mixing bowls. Your children will be all the better for it.
8. Engaging in Problem-Solving Exercises
A person who can solve problems is, by nature, intelligent. As such, you should engage your children in as many problem-solving exercises as possible. The more problem-solving exercises a child engages in, the more analytical his or her mind will become.
There are all types of problem-solving exercises you can pursue. For instance, maybe you could take your child to an escape room. Or, maybe you could set up a scavenger hunt.
The options are essentially endless. The key is to challenge your child’s mind in a fun and stimulating way.
According to The Great Escape Room of Minneapolis, escape rooms are a great way for kids to challenge themselves – both with puzzle-solving skills, and to experience working together in a fun team environment.
9. Writing
One last activity we’ll discuss is writing, and writing by hand, in particular. Writing by hand has been linked to increased cognitive activity. In other words, putting a pencil or pen to paper is shown to increase intelligence.
To get your child in the writing mood, you could supply him or her with writing prompts. Or, you could have free-writing sessions, allowing your child to write whatever he or she wants.
Still Wondering How to Make Kids Smart?
Are these activities not enough? Still wondering how to make kids smart? If so, our website might be of some use to you.
The Mother Huddle has tons of articles for you to peruse, covering everything from childhood development to parenting to bonding and more. Take a look at some of our other articles now!
