Window of opportunity in early child development

admin 07/04/2022 Blog 0

If you are a parent of a young kid between 2 to 5 yrs, you must have heard about the “window of opportunity” for his/her physical and cognitive development. And it is not an exaggeration. Early childhood is an important stage and a period of rapid physical, mental and cognitive development that forms the base for your baby’s future health and learning.

Your child is born with approx. 100 million neurons in the brain. If exposed to a conducive environment and stimulus, each neuron is capable of establishing 1000s of synaptic connections with other neurons. Child’s cognitive and mental development happens because of this growing network of synapses. It starts developing rapidly in the prenatal stage and continues even after birth. 90% of brain development takes place before age 5.

This development occurs in spurts

the first such spurt occurs around age 2. The density of neural synapses in a 2 year old’s brain is twice that of an adult’s brain and these synapses are responsible for learning. Because of these abundant synapses present in the brain, Children have an enormous ability to develop skills and absorb knowledge around them during early age.

If we put these synapses to use

by trying new challenges like balancing blocks, coloring , solving logical puzzles, exercising visual perception, matching shapes etc., they get strengthened. It is known as “experience based synapse formation”. On the other hand, the unused synapses degenerate as the age advances. Thus, The age between 2 to 7 is considered a “window of opportunity”.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Now the question is – As a parent how can you take advantage of this “window of opportunity”?

During this window, the kind of environment the kid is exposed to – plays a vital role in the growth and development of the brain and central nervous system. Studies have shown that babies who are exposed to good nutrition and sufficient cognitive stimulation had noticeably better brain function than those brought up in a less stimulating environment.

The End Results Are Always Absolutely Amazing

These enriching experiences come through play, arts and interpersonal interactions during this age. As a parent, what we can do to take advantage of this period is to encourage our little one to take on new challenges, trying new things, instead of simply focusing on academic performance.

Now You must be wondering, what is the right time for my kid to get exposed to the new skill? How do I know what is the right activity for my kid?

Do not worry. There are many age-appropriate activity based toys available in the market nowadays. You can also visit our product page to scroll through the structured play solution for different age groups and get a gist of what kind of activities your kid should be doing in this age, to get maximum advantage of this ‘Window of activity’.