

You can also have them try to remember short lists of familiar objects in the home. See if they can tell you which one is missing. For younger children, you can take a few of their toys and line them up. Then cover them and take one away. If you can find a Yamaha music program for children in your area, I highly recommend it for children as young as three up to young teens.Īctivities to improve memory and concentration are essential for all of us. An internet search will bring up instructional videos you can use at home. Learning to play either the piano or an electronic keyboard is one of the best ways to improve brain integration. Or you can do the “windmill” by standing with feet spread apart and alternate between touching your left foot with your right hand and vice versa. Do this five times, and then do your left elbow to your right knee. You can do simple exercises with your child like sitting and touching your right elbow to your left knee. If they are right-handed, have them use their left, and if left-handed, use their right for things like writing, getting dressed, and eating. Have your child try doing things with their non-dominant hand. Every morning before getting out of bed, have your child slowly begin to move all their toes on both feet up and down, and then change to just the two big toes. This greatly helps coordination. Kids of all ages can quickly learn to do this. Exercises like the following promote integration between essential brain functions, leading to an overall better-performing brain. Motor coordination is a function of our brain as well as our body.

When we exercise them together, we are helping various functions of the brain work more collaboratively and stay in sync.

Our brains and our bodies are part of our whole self, and both parts need exercise. Now breathe out and feel your elevator breath take all your troubles and worries down through your chest, your belly, your legs, and out the elevator door in your feet.” Now breathe out all of your air. Now breathe in and take your elevator breath up to the top floor, up through your throat into your face and forehead. Now breathe in and take your elevator breath up to your chest. To start the elevator, I want you to breathe in through your nose. “Imagine that your breath is like an elevator taking a ride through your body. After they have practiced breathing naturally, say the following to them: Start by having your child sitting in a cross-legged position or lying down and breathing naturally. Practicing deep breathing (“elevator breathing” or moving the breath to all parts of the body) helps improve memory and emotional control. By the way, these exercises not only help kids, but they also work for adults as well. Here are six activities you can do with your child to promote healthy brain development that will improve several key executive functions. Make it fun and keep at it, and you’ll see gains. There are dramatic improvements in concentration, memory, learning and academics, coordination, relationships, organizational skills, responsibility, and creativity as I guide children through the integrative movement sequences.Think of it this way: helping your child learn an executive function is no different than when they learn to ride a bike or recite the alphabet. They are not complicated, but they can bring about substantial changes in your child’s behavioral and academic progress. These movements are a type of physical exercise, or movement patterns, designed to encourage proper neurological development in a child.

Whole Brain Integration and integrative movement can reintegrate your child’s developmental processes to strengthen mind-body connections and improve their brain function. If there is a disruption in development of one of these, it can lead to delays and various academic, emotional, and behavioral challenges. Basically, your child’s thinking and movement reside together in the same area of their brain – movement and cognition are not separate from one another! As a result, proper growth of a child’s mind and behavior rests on the coordinated interplay of movement and learning. The cerebellum, located at the back of the brain, is responsible for motor control as well as a many learning processes: memory, thinking, communication, attention, and spatial perception.
