Paul Stallard

Children are one of the easily overlooked victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be because they have not physically suffered from the illness as much as adults. However, the pandemic has taken an emotional toll on kids. More than 188 countries closed schools.

According to the United Nations Sustainable Group (UNSDG), more than 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures. 

Singapore was one of the countries that included school closures in the measures to reduce transmission. School-going children who were used to a routine were suddenly confined at home. 

They could no longer interact with their friends. They couldn’t even participate in recreational activities since play centres were closed. They also had to adjust to learning online. The sudden change in their way of life no doubt affected the children. 

Online brain training help children to remain active.

As an adult, have you been in a situation where everything in your life changed? It could be loss of employment, or you took leave of absence from an activity you undertook for months or years. What happened the first few mornings when you woke up with nothing to do? 

You might have been bored stiff from the lack of activity, or you wandered around your home trying to find ways to keep busy. 

Even though they express themselves differently, children affected by school closures during the pandemic were bored. Some parents may have seen behavioural changes in their children, some destructive. 

Education is a brain booster, and parents needed to find ways to supplement learning in some way, especially for children who were not learning online. This explains the rise in demand for brain training online. 

Availability of educational resources

Online brain training activities are learning resources that teachers and parents should use to improve learning. The activities are designed to test a child’s memory, cognitive development, and stimuli responses. 

Even though most children are back in school now, parents can still use the brain booster activities in online brain training to complement what the children are learning in school. 

The activities are educational and recreational. 

When children engage in online brain training activities, they may not be aware that they are learning. They assume they are playing. However, the games are brain boosters. They have been created to test various cognitive skills.

They include impulse control, inhibition, brain speed, focus, and memory. So as your child prays, his brain is exercising to strengthen these cognitive skills. 

Get instant insight into your child’s brain.

Online brain training is not meant to replace education received in school. These brain-boosting activities are expected to give parents and teachers a glimpse of a child’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses.

When you look at a child’s school performance, it is difficult to tell if he is not performing well because he is inattentive, impulsive, or has issues with auditory sensory processing. 

The brain online training activities seek a deeper understanding of what is going on with your child. Fortunately, some brain booster sites will even tell you the aim of the game. So, if your child succeeds or fails to perform the tasks, you can immediately tell his cognitive strengths and weaknesses. 

If you are yet to introduce online brain training to your child, you should consider doing so for these reasons. 

Toddlers can be a handful. You leave them in a room unsupervised for a few minutes, and you discover a mess that leaves you amazed that this small being could cause such havoc. Toddlers are in the discovery phase. 

Their brains are developing quickly, and they need to be exposed to different activities to keep them busy and help them achieve their milestones. Enrichment class for toddlers in Singapore has various programs that are beneficial to toddlers, and to some extent, parents as well.

Prepares toddlers for school

When you see toddlers in an enrichment class for toddlers in Singapore, it is easy to assume they are just playing. However, they participate in activities that instill the skills they will need when they get to the school-going age. 

Some of the skills toddlers learn in enrichment classes include concentration, problem-solving, and persistence. These are essential skills that may help deal with impulsiveness and inattention, which holds many preschoolers back.  

Improves fine and gross motor skills

At birth, babies barely have any control of their movements. This is why they initially move their hands aimlessly. Gross and fine motor skills are critical for infants to achieve their milestones. Gross motor skills are necessary for sitting, standing, walking, running, kicking, swimming, and jumping. 

Gross motor skills are also critical for balance, hand-eye coordination, and brain development. On the other hand, fine motors skills are necessary for writing, cutting, threading beads, and playing with legos. 

Some people assume that these skills develop naturally. However, while some infants go through their milestones easily, some children need help. Additionally, toddlers need to be exposed to activities that will boost their fine motor skills. 

An enrichment class Singapore appreciates the importance of a child being physically and emotionally ready for preschools. So, the activities are intentionally designed to help improve toddlers’ fine and gross motor skills. 

Increased social skills

Have you met toddlers who are comfortable around a stranger and those that cling to their parents? Toddlers have yet to develop personalities to claim that some are introverts and others are extroverts. Children need social skills to help them interact with other children. 

Social skills do not just focus on interaction with other children. They also help improve communication skills. This is why when young children attend an enrichment class for toddlers Singapore, they improve on their vocabulary, confidence, and self-esteem. 

Toddlers even develop interests in activities they may not have been exposed to had they stayed at home. Toddlers with social skills are unlikely to have a difficult time adjusting to preschool. 

Programs that encourage creativity and self-expression

Enrichment classes for toddlers have programs related to art, dance, and music. Many toddlers are not exposed to such an environment when at home. It will be interesting to see what the toddlers will do when they discover this different world. 

Increased self-expression encourages creativity and the development of other skills. For example, when a toddler listens to music, he may start dancing or using vocabulary relating to music. These extracurricular activities allow toddlers to broaden their horizons. 

There is much to gain from enrolling your toddler in an enrichment class. Toddler enrichment classes are becoming quite popular in Singapore, so you get to choose a centre you consider most suitable for your toddler. 

Children experience several difficulties when they go to school for the first time. Some find learning in a group difficult, while others find it hard to remain attentive every couple of minutes. Brain training activities seek to aid brain development by introducing learning techniques that will make it easier for children to concentrate and perform well in school. 

Experts recommend kids brain training activities that are play-based and mind stimulating. Since children have different capabilities, how then can parents and teachers choose the ideal brain training activities? 

Start with simple activities. 

Simple activities, such as playing with blocks, are great for gauging a child’s strengths. You don’t want to start with complex activities because this may cause the child to shut down. Instead, allow him to gain confidence in his achievements, however small. 

When the child excels in the skill, you can now progress in making the activity more complex. For example, instead of just building the blocks, you can ask the child to separate the small blocks from the big ones. You may also introduce the concept of colours and ask the child to build the blocks according to colours. 

Introduce new activities

The brain develops and evolves depending on what it is exposed to. Right brain training in Singapore will help set the right learning curve for the child, both in academics and daily challenges in life. Parents and teachers must analyze a child’s responses to the brain training activities to determine if it is time to introduce a new skill. 

If you cannot introduce a new activity yet, you should find ways to raise the bar in activities that the child has mastered. 

Exercise patience when a child is struggling to grasp a new concept. When a child has difficulty learning something new, it is important to appreciate that his problem is not learning something new. The challenge may be his ability to increase his skillset and knowledge. Given time, he will figure out what he needs to do. You only need to encourage him not to give up. 

Choose activities that encourage creativity.

Have you had a child do or say something that left you wondering how he even thought of doing that? Children are naturally curious. They hardly ever second guess themselves when they think of something they’d like to try. 

Kids brain training encourages children to develop critical thinking skills. Some games, such as obstacle courses, require children to think deeply. They need to analyze the game to determine how best to overcome the obstacles and challenges before them. 

Select activities that children can practice regularly.

It is impossible to improve memory without working on it. One of the functions of kids brain training is to help children improve their memory. When children participate in brain training activities, they need to practice regularly. This helps them to develop different cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and memory. 

When introducing the right brain training Singapore, choose indoor and outdoor activities that encourage the development of different skills. This way, the children can keep practising when they are indoors and outdoors, irrespective of the weather. 

Brain training activities are chosen deliberately. When choosing an activity, ask yourself how kids are likely to benefit from it. It doesn’t have to be elaborate because children tend to lose interest when an activity is difficult. 

Consider the children’s age when choosing an activity. Older kids are usually more willing to try advanced and more complex activities. When kids brain training is done right, they will have an easier time transferring the knowledge and skill to their school work. 

Occupational therapy for children has often been met with many misconceptions. This is primarily because many people do not understand what is occupational therapy for children and how children benefit from it. 

Occupation therapy helps children enhance their skills and achieve developmental gains that were previously missed. The aim is to help children experiencing challenges to have as normal a life as possible. 

One of the factors that feed the misconception is the fact that children are different. Some have needs that are unique to them. Fortunately, occupation therapy for children sees children as individuals with specific needs. Even children who share similar challenges may require different types of occupation therapies. 

Therapy to help children process their senses

Children with sensory processing disorder have trouble processing the information sent by their sense. They struggle to identify their feelings, what they see, touch, taste, and smell. Children on the autism spectrum are most in need of this type of occupational therapy because they are overly sensitive. 

For example, some children reject some foods because of the way they smell or taste. Others struggle performing tasks, such as holding a pencil. Occupational therapy helps children to have a better understanding of the senses and how they work. 

Therapy for children with a physical disability

While children in wheelchairs require physical therapy, occupational therapy for children is equally important. Occupational therapists help these children to learn their capabilities and limitations. Even though they are in their wheelchairs, therapists aim to show these children their potential. 

Instead of giving up and letting the children’s muscles wear out, the therapist engages the children and show them that they can strengthen their fine and gross motor skills. They can learn to write and even kick a ball. 

Once they understand that even with limitations, they can still lead a fulfilling life, children with a physical disability will strive to meet their potential. 

Therapy for skill development

Children are naturally curious. They often attempt to perform one task after another. Unfortunately, sometimes they may not have the right skill set to help them perform some of the tasks. It is not usually that a child is missing the right skills, but the failure to adjust to some of the skills he has learnt. 

Occupational therapy helps children cope with the new skills that they have learnt. Learning too many skills too quickly often leaves children overwhelmed. 

An occupational therapist will help them classify the skill sets, so they can easily identify the skills to use depending on the task they are performing. 

All children can benefit from occupational therapy. They don’t even have to be behind in meeting developmental milestones. For children, occupational therapy is enjoyable. They often see it as play, and this is why children respond quickly to occupational therapy. Children who are behind in their development often catch up and even surpass their peers. 

There is much to be gained from occupational therapy for children. Parents and teachers must seek help for children most in need of therapy early. Most of the therapies work irrespective of the child’s age. However, early intervention is more effective.