Tips for Parents
Memory
- Play memory/concentration games using letters, numbers, words, and math facts
- Play store-bought memory games such as Simon and Bop-It
- Read the article: Improve Memory Skills
Creativity
- Provide time and space for unstructured, child-directed, imaginative play, ex. dress-up, Legos, blocks, painting, playdough, etc.
- Allow your child to make mistakes; children who are afraid to make mistakes curb their own creativity
- Encourage your child to ask questions and wonder about the world around them
- Ask questions that start with, “What if…?”
- Encourage your child to come up with answers that no one else has thought of
- Read the article: Creative Development in 3-5 Year Olds
Spatial
- Engage in building with blocks and Legos
- Encourage map reading & making
- Solve a variety of puzzles including jigsaw and Rubik’s cube
- Use spatial language to describe location or size of objects, such as inside, higher, lower, wider, below, etc.
- Read and explore the article: Improving Spatial Skills in Children and Teens
Logic
- Play strategy games, such as Sudoku, Chess, Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers, Battleship
- Play online logic games: http://www.softschools.com/games/logic_games/
- Engage in picture sorts (sort by attributes)
- Logical Thinking for parents to use with ages 3-6
- Thinking about our thinking: Strategies for Children
- Logic Games for Kids
- Brain Boosters from Discovery Education
