At birth, the average baby’s brain is about a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Amazingly, it doubles in size in the first year. The brain keeps growing to about 80% of adult size by age 3 and 90% by age 5. This means you have a lot of opportunity to help your baby’s brain develop in healthy ways during those early years. Brain connections are built in everyday experiences through positive interactions with their parents and caregivers and by using their senses to interact with the world around them. The quality of care, stimulation, and interaction they receive in their early years is a fundamental part of healthy brain development.

• Physical Touch: Babies and young children need to be held and cuddled.  Every time you gently touch your baby, brain cells are connected.

• Respond to your baby’s needs: Your baby learns to trust others when you respond to his needs. Close and secure relationships early in your baby’s life help them to build trust, self-esteem and to confidently explore their world.

• Talk to your child: The more words your child hears, the more words she will learn. A five-year-old child who knows a lot of words is more likely to have higher academic success in life.

• Read with your child: It is never too early to share books with your baby. When your baby is looking at pictures or listening to a story, their brain is hard at work.

• Sing with your child: The connections made in the brain when listening to music are the same connections used to solve math problems.

• Play with your child: Play is serious work for your child. The more varied play experiences you can share with your child, the more brain connections are made.

Parents and caregivers who give consistent attention, respond, and interact with their child are literally building the child’s brain. That is why it is so important to talk, sing, read and play with young children from birth and to give them opportunities to explore their physical world, all while providing safe, stable and nurturing environments.