Most parents hope that their kids will grow up to be wise, kind, and unleash their greatest potential. Although some kids are born geniuses, and their intelligence seems innate, there are still things you can do as a parent to help them get ahead. One of them includes finding the time to get them involved in activities that could help them develop their brain, as well as key skills they’re going to need throughout their academics and life. The good thing is that there is a wide selection to choose from in case you have a child that doesn’t seem to like anything! On those grounds, you’re going to find five activities below that have the potential to make your kids smarter.
Music Making
If you want your kids to be smarter, you should consider getting them to make music or doing it with them. If you didn’t already know, research shows that learning music makes kids a lot smarter. You should, therefore, think about getting them to start playing an instrument whether it be the keyboard, guitar, or drums. For example, playing the piano, in particular, can help raise a child’s IQ significantly. In addition to this, playing an instrument is said to have immense benefits ranging from helping their concentration, making them more flexible, enhancing their coordination, as well as improving their reading and comprehension skills. Once you decide which instrument that they’ll be playing, you can get instruments at a discounted price by looking for valid Musicians Friend coupon codes.
Unstructured Play Time
Another way that you can help make your child smarter is by giving them unstructured play time. Although your kids are likely to play several times a day already, ensure that when they are playing, there are no rules outside of ones you create for safety. Unstructured play is crucial for your child’s development. Therefore, you should try and avoid being overprotective and rigid as it could work out to be counterproductive. More specifically, free play helps children develop cognitive and social skills as well as helps them develop into happier and healthier kids in the future. You may decide to schedule this unstructured play time after school or on weekends.
Video Games
This is a debatable one because many people feel that too many games aren’t good for kids, but it is important to remember balance and moderation is key. On those premises, you should know that there are many positive effects that video games can have on your child. For one, it could help their hand-eye coordination. In addition to this, other benefits include improving areas such as their problem-solving ability, reasoning, resource management, hypothesis testing, quick thinking and reacting as well as memory. You should try and make playing video games an activity they do at least a few times a week for this reason. Also, try and find a game that they enjoy playing or that you can play together as a family.
Reading
It’s likely that you already know this, but reading is another practical way of making your kids smarter. Reading as an activity is constantly pushed because the benefits of engaging in it have been proven time and time again. If you happen to have a child that’s not keen on reading, perhaps try finding them books based on their interests. It should increase their enthusiasm towards reading seeing as they’re learning something new about a subject they enjoy. Also, you may find that if you read with them often, as well as set reading goals for them, it will encourage them too.
Learning Another Language
Being bilingual has several benefits, and one of them is helping your kids get ahead. Not only can doing so help them academically, but it can also equip them with useful life skills. By opting to ensure your child learns another language, you help improve their concentration, help them cope with change, give them an appreciation for other cultures, improve the cognitive process, as well as improve their memory. In addition to this, being bilingual will likely be an added bonus when they finally reach the job market as it gives them an advantage over some of their peers who only speak one language.
Helping your kids boost their abilities and skillset is something that will take them far in life. Although success is often about a lot more than being smart, this could still go a long way in accompanying other qualities like communicating effectively, being assertive, seizing opportunities when they arise and being bold enough to conquer the obstacles that will come their way.
