The four main areas of a child’s holistic development are – physical/motor, cognitive, social, and emotional. Cognitive development refers to the ways children think, reason, behave, and explore their surroundings. It usually starts during the first five years of a child’s growth. They start acquiring different cognitive skills like attention, memory, reasoning, critical thinking, pattern recognition, etc, from this age. As they grow, they learn more complex cognitive abilities.

Along with these skills that children learn naturally, there are different ways you can train and sharpen their cognitive abilities. Read on to learn the 5 ways to promote cognitive development in students.

Encourage problem-solving

Problem-solving skills are essential for the overall development of children. Like adults, children also face various problems, such as conflicts with friends or the pressure of assignments, and each problem requires a unique solution. Problem-solving skills help children approach and deal with these problems in a healthier way. Encourage them for activities like brainstorming situations, riddles and clue tracing activities etc in an environment free from negative criticism. Most importantly, try to be a positive role model because children tend to learn most from the actions of their elders.

Promote opportunities to experiment

Children have a natural tendency to explore. However, there are still a lot of opportunities we can offer them to think and grow. Encourage them to think out of the box and experiment with their interests. Provide them with opportunities that engage them in multiple areas like storytelling and DIY activities, which will improve their cognitive function. Push them to learn new skills and face different challenges to expand their cognition. Being open to new experiences will enhance students’ personality traits to a great extent.

Push curiosity and creativity

Keeping students curious is a well-known method to keep their minds active. Promote activities and techniques that drive their curiosity and expand their thinking capacity. Activities like outing  into the nature and involving children into daily chores will provide them with different perspectives on situations and thus allow them to think and figure out creative ways. Though creativity is not an easy skill to instill in children, it is highly appreciated. It allows them to explore themselves and enriches their understanding of situations. Try to teach them how to think by tapping into their curious minds to explore unique ways.

Utilize brain games

Games are the most sought-after ways to promote cognitive skills among students. Apart from making learning fun and interesting for students, they enhance their decision-making skills by pushing them to think and analyze quickly. Games and activities like crossword puzzles and sudoku games help improve their logical thinking and pattern recognition. You can also utilize technology through child-friendly computer games to improve their cognition and reaction speed.

Engage them in physical activities

The benefits of physical activities for our minds along with our bodies are known to all. Exercise releases certain hormones which improve memory retention and cognition among students. Various studies have proved that physically active students have a better attention span and processing speed. Exercises improve students’ operational memory and cognitive functioning. Incorporate exercises with learning through techniques like teaching measurements through jumping jacks.

While all academic skills are important for students’ growth, enhancing their cognitive development is vital for lifelong learning. Use these ways to develop cognition in students and light up the fire among them to become lifelong learners.