Holiday Blessings for Early Brain Development

NOVEMBER 2011 EDITION OF RESEARCH TO POLICY

A tremendous amount of space has been devoted to the ways that the holidays can impose additional stress on families, with negative implications for children. But at the same time, the holiday season also represents a time of wonder for young children, and offer an excellent opportunity to nurture their social, emotional and cognitive development. The holidays can mean loving family environments, playtime with relatives and friends, delicious foods, music, and a break for normal routines. All of these opportunities support optimal early childhood brain development.

Play
The holidays offer much needed opportunities to play with young children. Play allows young children to hone their attention spans and to learn to focus on specific tasks. Children strengthen their motors skills, visual tracking, and hand-eye coordination while playing. Cooperative play with other children helps in the development of creative thinking, problem solving, decision-making, and communication skills like listening, cooperating, and negotiating.

http://www.theurbanchildinstitute.org/articles/research-to-policy/research/holiday-blessings-for-early-brain-development