Smart Parenting Series #9: 3 Ways to help your babies brain develop!

#1 Play games that involve hands.

Activities like patty-cake, peekaboo, this little piggy, or even puppets engage your baby and capture her attention. Using your hands shows young children how we physically interact with our world — plus, hands-on activities are simply more fun for both of you!

#2 Foster an early passion for books.

Choose books with large and colorful pictures, and share your baby's delight in pointing at certain images or even making noises that correspond with the book — like glub glub when you see a fish. Modulate the tone of your voice, simplify or elaborate on story lines, and encourage toddlers to talk about books.

Remember that building your baby's receptive language (understanding spoken words) is more important than developing his expressive language (speaking) in infancy.

#3 Choose toys that allow babies to explore and interact.

Toys such as a windup jack-in-the-box or stackable blocks help your baby learn cause-and-effect relationships and "if-then" reasoning. For instance, if a child stacks too many blocks without straightening them, they fall down. If he successfully stacks blocks on top of each other, he "wires in" that information.