What do the words cognition or cognitive ability mean? The Oxford Dictionary defines cognition as ‘the process by which knowledge and understanding is developed in the mind.’ So, how do we develop this ability in children? There are many ways and play activities are the simplest method of doing this.

Play in any form is a great activity to help develop your children’s cognitive abilities. According to Thinking: toddlers, an article published in raisingchildren.net.au, “Toddlers are like little scientists – experimenting, thinking, solving problems and learning all the time. Play is vital for your toddler’s cognitive development, because it’s one of the main ways that your child explores the world. Through exploration and experimentation, your child develops the ability to think, understand, make memories, imagine and work out what might happen next.”

You don’t have to go out of the way to get your child to play games. Even the simplest of games that can be played at home help with children’s cognitive development. A good start would be to teach your child to sort and classify different things like puzzles or pictures. According to Games for Cognitive Development During Early Childhood, an article published in oureverydaylife.com, “Categorizing is a huge part of cognition, according to the California Department of Education. Games that encourage sorting, matching and classifying are excellent for cognitive development. For children younger than 3 years of age, a sorting game might just require them to put the blue blocks in the blue box, the red blocks in the red box and the green blocks in the green box.”

To know more about the different ways in which you can develop your child’s cognitive abilities, please go through the ClipBook below.