Every day without realizing it, your little one slowly begins to grow and develop. Starting from the time a child is born, the toddler stage, childhood- to adolescence, and adulthood.
Your little one does not only change physically, but also psychologically, mentally, and emotionally. The mental development of children can be said as cognitive development.
At this stage, a child can develop his mind to process information, think creatively, and be able to solve problems. Cognitive development in children needs more attention from parents. Because this will affect the future.
To find out more about cognitive development, check out Thevolume.net review of children’s cognitive development which is important for Mom to understand below.
Understanding Cognitive Development
Cognitive development is a development in children that refers to the development of the mind, reasoning, problem-solving, and creative skills. Simply put, cognitive development is the level of a child’s ability to think.
Children’s cognitive development will produce great progress in the first six years of life. At this time, your child begins to understand the connection or relationship between objects and people around them.
Stages of Cognitive Development in Early Childhood
Jean Piaget in his research known as Piaget’s theory, states that cognitive development is divided into four stages, namely:
1. Sensory motor (0-2 years)
The sensorimotor stage is the first stage based on Piaget’s theory. At this stage, your child begins to develop an understanding of the world through coordinating sensory experiences by seeing and hearing, as well as by motor actions by reaching or touching.
This stage is the stage where your little one’s senses begin to be active. A major development during the sensorimotor stage is the understanding that objects and events occur in the world naturally from their actions.
2. Pre-operation (2-7 years)
At this stage, the child can think symbolically but has not used cognitive operations. This means that at this stage the child can understand images and symbols, but has not been able to think logically.
When children see an image, their memory, imagination, and creativity begin to form at this stage. At the end of the pre-operational stage, the child will be able to present events and objects, which he has seen and understood with his abilities.
3. Concrete operations (7-11 years)
At this stage, the child can think rationally. According to Piaget, the concrete stage is a turning point in children’s cognitive development, because this stage is the initial stage for a child to think logically.
At this stage, the child can use his mind and think logically, which is then poured into an object even though it is not perfect. At this stage, the child has also begun to be able to understand external events, such as someone’s emotions.
4. Formal operational stage (12 years and over)
According to Piaget, at this stage, a child can think abstractly and manipulate the ideas in his head.
At this stage, children can think creatively, do mathematical calculations, and imagine. It can be said that this stage is the initial stage of a child moving into a teenager.
How to Improve Cognitive Ability in Children
After knowing the stages of cognitive development in early childhood, Mom can improve children’s cognitive abilities through various activities that can be done together.
Adjust this activity according to the child’s age, Mom. Here are some activities that can help moms improve cognitive abilities in children:
1. Actively invites to talk
In your little one’s first years, Mom has to talk to him often. This is because language learning is an important aspect of cognitive development. Inviting to talk can also be done by inviting children to sing together.
2. Play with objects by counting
Before your little one enters school, you also need to teach him to count while playing with objects. This can make your child’s mind develop to solve problems and find solutions.
3. Play puzzles
To increase your little one’s concentration, one way that Mom can is to give him a puzzle game. Playing puzzles not only improves your little one’s concentration but also makes them think about solutions.
4. Play in open spaces
Playing in open spaces can indirectly increase your child’s creativity. By playing in an open space, children can observe new objects around them and imagine.
5. Ask questions to children
During the quality time with your little one, you can ask him some simple questions. This can help your little one think and solve problems.
That’s an explanation of the cognitive development of children. Every child has a different process to grow into an adult, teach children according to their current age.
