Raise A Smart Toddler

To raise a smart toddler requires groundwork from parents and carers from birth.

Brain games for babies gives parents some great ideas for stimulation from birth.

It is never too late however to start stimulating your toddler!

Encouraging brain connections from an early age and attention to your toddler's development is beneficial for their future success.

Keep in mind that to raise a smart toddler you need to invest time to help them learn.

Good parents make time and pay attention to their child's responses.

10 Tips To Raise A Smart Toddler:

	Sing songs and nursery rhymes with your toddler every day. Use hand and body actions. This helps them to remember the rhymes and makes it all the more fun. Your toddler will learn to actions with the words and begin to act them out independently. This is also great for their language development. If you're feeling tired or not at home, use nursery rhyme music on cds to play in the background while they are playing or sing along to in the car.
	Talk to and with your child. Explain what you're doing in your daily activities. For example, while hanging the washing on the line you may say "Look at this blue sock, I am pegging it on the line". Make lots of time for conversations with your toddler with regular eye contact. Respond to their attempts to converse with you and help them to learn how to string sentences together.
	Provide your child with brain building toys that encourage open ended responses. Limit TV exposure before the age of two years old and spend some quality time on the floor with them.
	Read to your baby - preferably at least three books daily. It's okay if she wants to hear the same book time and time again for days or weeks! Encourage a love for reading, make it enjoyable and fun. The Brainy Bambino My Baby Can Read has good ideas for the types of books to read to your toddler.
	Feed your toddler smart, nutritious food. Protein and essential fats are key ingredients to building healthy brains. Avoid too much sugar and try to get them to eat fruits and vegetables (even if you have to hide it or mash it in to casseroles, just try your best). Encourage your toddler to drink plenty of water and if they must drink juice, water it down.
	Establish a good sleep routine with your toddler. Developing brains need adequate rest to absorb what they have taken in. Studies suggest that brain intelligence is linked to healthy sleep habits.
	Encourage plenty of physical and hands on activity to raise a smart toddler. Climbing, jumping, swinging, running, peddling are all extremely beneficial to brain development. Children often crave exercise because their brains need it to go forward. See movement activities for ideas.
	Provide a stable, consistent and loving environment to raise a smart toddler. Children need a reasonably predictable environment where they know they are safe. Children need to be able to trust their carer and know their environment is hygienic with interesting and stimulating materials to explore.
	Most of all, if you wish to raise a smart toddler, take care of yourself! You need the energy and healthy state of mind to be able to provide all of these things. Someone once told me that the best parents in the world are ones who aren't afraid to ask for help or advice. Learn from others and know that raising toddlers is not an easy job. Try to laugh and go with the flow.