Developing research is showing that children have an easier time navigating their environment when it’s predictable, and that unpredictable environments may affect their brain development and mental health. Predictability provides multiple benefits to growing children, one of which is establishing relationships with caregivers. Having a predictable routine with caregivers allows children to develop trust, and supports brain areas involved in emotional regulation. Child and adult brains thrive on predictable situations, as they provide us safe routines, whereas unpredictable events can be stressful. Here’s some tips on how to make your child’s environment more predictable to support their development: 

1. Develop a bedtime routine. Bedtime routines prepare the brain for sleep, and having a consistent, predictable set of procedures to complete ahead of going to bed makes it more likely for children to sleep successfully. Bedtime routines can be as simple as having dinner, washing up, brushing teeth, changing into pajamas, and then going to sleep. 
2. Eat as a family. Having a meal as a family provides children with the opportunity to connect and build secure relationships with their loved ones. 
3. Do something fun at the end of the week. Concluding the week with something fun, like going to the park, watching a movie, or having a Pizza night marks the end of the week and facilitates shifting to the weekend routine. 
4. Give your child a heads up before a transition occurs. It can be hard for children to transition between tasks, especially when they are engaged in a fun activity. Given how much children thrive off of predictability, let them know ahead of time the next task they’ll be transitioning to. This will make the transition easier since it gives a child’s brain time to prepare for another task. 
5. Let your child know about any changes in their routine. Following a routine all the time is unfeasible; sometimes, a change in a routine is needed when appointments, travel and the holidays come up. Changes in routine help children learn about how to be flexible and how to cope with change. Letting children know about any routine changes in advance can help them organize their emotions regarding the change. 

Overall, developing routines with children supports their brain development and also helps them practice mental flexibility.

Kylie Robinshaw

UConn KIDS, Research Assistant

Read more here

Most people can remember a time where their parents lectured them about the importance of not slouching or seeing videos advertising new workout equipment to build your abdominal muscles.  As silly or annoying those instances may be, they were definitely onto something!  In fact, strengthening our core muscles and maintaining proper posture is central to just about  every activity that humans do.  Encouraging your child to move and sit in ways that build that group of abdominal muscles can promote their success in and out of the classroom.

When examining children who have poor core posture, they typically have difficulty keeping their head, wrists, and shoulders positioned properly.  This can lead to difficulties when executing fine and gross motor activities like crawling and handwriting.  The deficits in fine motor skill seen as a result of poor posture can cause children to fall behind with their learning because they are unable to execute writing/drawing tasks, often need frequent breaks from fatigue of holding themselves up, and tend to move around in their seat a lot, altering their focus.  Children may also experience delays in their social-emotional development due to the inability to take part in some kinds of play such as using playground equipment during recess because they cannot support their bodies as well as not being able to support themselves during forms of rough play.

If you are worried about your child’s core strength, it is important to observe their behavior especially when seated.  If your child tends to utilize their non-dominant hand to support their head, prop themselves up against the table, slouch, or have difficulty getting up, then it may be a good idea to help them build their core strength.  

Helping your child’s core strength doesn’t mean they need to do hours of abdominal exercises everyday, in fact, you can incorporate certain activities into their playtime.  Having your child walking on all fours pretending to be different animals or even holding your child’s feet while they walk on their hands are excellent ways to help develop their abdominal muscles.

Read the full article here

 

Marissa Robarge

UConn KIDS Research Assistant

Being creative is a central part of life for children and their development. Children are able to manifest their creativity in a variety of ways, like drawing, building, and playing pretend. Parents can utilize the following strategies to help encourage their children to express their creativity.

1. Provide your child with opportunities to do arts and crafts. Arts and crafts can be done at any age, and can range from something simple to something complex. Some fun art activities that your child can do include carving something out of clay, making friendship bracelets, making a spaceship out of a cardboard box, and sewing. 
2. Limit screen time. Screen time can take up a lot of time out of a child’s day. A study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that children spend a daily average of about 7.5 hours looking at screens. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommends limiting screen time for children, suggesting no more than 1-3 hours of screen time for children aged 2 to 5 years old. Turning down the amount of screen time a child has can help encourage them to have fun and relax, and allows them to pursue and try out creative activities. 
3. Put time aside for imaginative play. Imaginative play includes any time of make-believe play, like playing with figurines or playing dress-up. Parents can also tap into their inner child and engage in pretend play with their children to encourage their creativity.

Some final tips to help foster your child’s creativity include allowing messes to happen, praising and displaying your children’s projects, and allowing your child to experiment. Encouraging your child’s creativity can help your child grow emotional and critical thinking skills, and also produces other benefits like stress reduction and identity exploration. Creativity can also help boost self-esteem within children and facilitate their fine motor skill development. Children are intrinsically creative due to their curious drive to explore about the world, and providing children resources to pursue their creativity can assist their development and promote their cognitive well-being.

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Read the full article here

Many parents decide to create something known as a “baby box” to store things that are important to their child’s lives.  For example, some baby boxes have old photos, their first outfits, the newspaper from the day they were born, and baby blankets.  While these mementos make a great keepsake and serve as a reminder for those early years, they can also serve as a representation of the stages of child development.

A recent study examined the behavior of children in relation to their attachment objects which include those infamous baby blankets and other soft toys like stuffed animals.  This study found that the role these objects take on in a child’s life differs across the lifespan and can influence children’s preferences when it comes to an attachment object.  In general, attachment objects are used to reduce the presence of a stress response and help the child regulate their emotions.  In order to continue this though, the role of the attachment objects must change just as the child grows and changes.  

Researchers discovered that children one year old and younger are more likely to choose soft clothes as their comfort object.  Children at this age use the comfort object to replace the role of a mother’s soothing by satisfying the need for tactile touch and comfort and thus can reduce their cry response.  Children this age often satisfy these needs by using their mouth or skin on the blankets.  However, as children shift into ages two and older, the preference in attachment objects changes and the role of the attachment object is also altered.  As children age, they begin to prefer soft toys such as stuffed animals to be their attachment object.  This is believed to be because as a child ages, their language also develops allowing them to engage in pretend play.  Children have a desire to engage and talk about new experiences going on in the world around them and by personifying a stuffed animal, they find a source of companionship in which to share these new experiences. 

So, while it is nostalgic to thumb through the memories in those baby boxes, make sure to save the blankets and the toys to remind yourself of not only the good times but how much you have changed!

Read the full article here

 

Marissa Robarge

UConn KIDS Research Assistant

A child’s sense of humor can indicate a lot about their development and thought processes. What children find funny oftentimes coincides with their developmental stage; for example, toddlers who are learning potty training find humor in “potty talk,” while older children who have already learned potty training don’t think bathroom jokes are funny. 

Laughing and smiling appear to be innate human behaviors, with infants as young as twelve-hours old being able to smile and babies who are only a couple of months old knowing how to laugh. One prime aspect of infant development is realizing that they are their own person and acquiring object permanence, which is the understanding that people and objects still exist even when they are out-of-sight. Object permanence acquisition begins when a baby is around eight-months-old. During this stage of development, many babies find humor in the game peekaboo, where someone hides their face behind their hands, opens their hands and says “peekaboo!” A baby with object permanence finds peekaboo funny because they understand the game, and the fact that someone they know is behind the hands. Peekaboo can be a game of prediction for infants acquiring object permanence; they know a familiar face is hiding, they predict that the face will reappear, and feel relief when it does. 

This same concept applies to many other stages of cognitive development; two-year-olds who are learning language find gibberish talk funny because they are in the process of grasping their language and understand that gibberish is nonsense. In the same sense, when six-year-olds are comprehending logic and abstraction, they find humor in jokes that involve word-play, logical flaws and juxtapositions, like “What’s the best month for a parade?” “March,” as these jokes reflect their current cognitive development. 

Overall, the next time you’re wondering about what your child is learning about themselves and the world, look to the source of their laughter, as a child’s sense of humor often concurs with their development. 

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Read the full article here

One of the biggest challenges of traditional learning is the sedentary lifestyle that children are required to adapt to.  Oftentimes in the classroom, students are supposed to remain seated at their desks and give their full attention to the assignment or instruction provided to them.  Most primary schools provide recess and there are specials, but could more breaks from direct instruction prove beneficial to academic performance?

A recent study examined the effects of in-classroom physical activity breaks on student’s health, academic ability, and cognitive function.  The study involved over 1000 primary school children where instruction was paused, and children participated in a physically-demanding activity throughout the day.  Researchers believe that physical breaks in the classroom setting are a great idea because it is already an environment associated with learning and the teacher can grab everyone’s attention easily.  Not to mention, physical activity is known as an indicator for academic performance.

After this study was completed, the data from this study revealed that there was a positive correlation between student’s overall physical activity levels and breaks promoted other healthy behaviors.  In regards to academic performance, students performed better on spelling tasks as well as had an easier time learning foreign languages.  They also found that there was a positive effect of physical breaks on cognitive functions such as inhibition, or blocking out other stimuli in the environment.  This can prove beneficial to the learning process as children are able to sustain their focus on the task at hand.

More studies need to be conducted on the effects of physical activity on reading and mathematical performance.  However, there are numerous effects that physical activity can have as long as the breaks are cognitively demanding.  Physical activity breaks have the potential to be a useful classroom tool.

 

Read more about breaks here

 

Marissa Robarge

Research Assistant UConn KIDS

Today’s Friday Feature is Sumita Saluja!

Sumita is a Project Manager and Research Assistant within the Department of Educational Psychology at UConn. She earned her degree in Health Sciences at the University of Hartford. 

Sumita and her research team are hoping to learn which areas of the brain are involved in successful reading development. This will help them better understand the neurobiological effects of teaching reading on a neural level. They are also hoping to learn how the brain changes as they teach students with reading difficulty to read using a research-based reading program. Sumita’s goal within her research is to create very efficient and effective reading interventions that work well for students with reading difficulty.

In her free time, Sumita likes to spend time with friends and family, especially her 15-year-old son. She enjoys sports, the stock market, and Netflix! 

 

The new generation (Generation Z) of children is starting to show interest in making a difference in the world and is starting to understand that politics may be a gateway for them. And so, this may be a valuable way to build a meaningful connection with them. Parents should engage their children in meaningful conversations surrounding politics and specifically in regard to identities, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. It helps them understand how communities and societies work today. This new generation values openness and authenticity in conversations and being treated as adults when talking to their parents. Parents should not be afraid of talking about their personal beliefs and political stances and how they might align with or differ from that of their children. It is important to show children that it is okay to have differing opinions and tensions when it comes to politics, and being able to navigate these opinions is a part of being an adult. Adults should also model civil disclosure such as positive behaviors, constant engagement, and not showing aggression and dismissiveness when talking to their children. It is important to maintain humility, curiosity, understanding, and empathy during conversations. If there is the respect shown in the conversation, this generation of children is more likely to be actively engaged. Now, more than ever, we need to bring politics to the everyday table and get them to understand how their voices can change the world. 

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/young-people-decoded/202211/3-ways-talk-gen-z-about-politics

Tulsi Patel

UConn KIDS Research Assistant

Many children are picky eaters in that they are very selective about the foods they consume. Picky eating can vary on a spectrum from having mild to severe food preferences, with the latter being classified as avoidant food intake disorder (ARFID) due to the weight loss and malnutrition that it can cause. It is normal for children aged 2-5 years old to go through phases of being a picky eater, but some children get caught in this habit and only want to eat specific foods, which can result in weight changes for the child and increased demands on the parent. 

Picky eating in children can be caused by a variety of things, including mental health disorders such as anxiety, developmental and behavioral disorders, sensory sensitivities, having bad experiences with food, and feeding difficulty. Picky eating may often be brushed off as a non-issue, but it can put children at risk for nutritional deficiencies. Nonetheless, picky eating is resolvable; psychologists recommend these five tips for helping children overcome their selective eating patterns. 

First, understand that picky eating results from food anxiety; the child does not enjoy eating new foods and picky eating helps them cope. Second, do not coerce or make your child eat foods that they don’t want to eat. Allowing your child to choose what foods to consume decreases pressure to eat, and in turn allows them to eat better. Third, begin to provide your child with new food experiences to help relieve food anxiety. For example, you could take them to the grocery store with you and teach them about new foods. Fourth, consider making a change to how you present meals to your child. A common method of feeding picky eaters is providing them a different meal at a time separate from when the rest of the family eats. This method can isolate a child and decreases their exposure to different foods. Instead, consider using a family meal approach, where a couple of dishes are prepared and served buffet-style. This approach allows the family to eat the same foods together, and grants picky eaters choice as well. Lastly, set boundaries around eating, such as how long meals should last or whether electronics are allowed at the table.

Helping a child overcome picky eating is a family effort that requires patience, but overall is a worthwhile process that in the end can improve your child’s nutritional health.

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ask-child-psychologist/202211/how-do-i-get-my-picky-eater-try-new-foods

It is typical for families to make a memory box filled with medals, favorite stuffed animals, and even all of your old art projects from your school years.  While those simple crafts and messy paintings might seem like just a memento, they might actually be a key in helping children develop.

Painting is an activity that is highly engaging for most kids as when finger painting they get to experience the sensory input of dipping their fingers in the paint and the way it feels when they drag them along the page or even just getting to see all of the colors as they push a brush around.  This art form is a powerful avenue in which children can convey their ideas, sharpen their senses, express emotion, and even get a better understanding of cause and effect relationships.  Children get an experience to directly manipulate and try out different techniques for spreading paint and even what happens when mixing colors together.  It is also a great opportunity to help children develop their language and social skills.  Children are put in a situation where they must communicate what materials they need and learn to ask for assistance when they need help with something.  Language can also be supported farther by the caregiver asking the artist prompting questions such as “what color is this?” and “what shapes are those?”

When it comes to painting with children it is important to use non-toxic materials and provide them with large paper and various brushes to allow for exploration.  Nonetheless, painting truly is a powerful tool so go grab the smocks! 

 

Read the full article: https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/painting-with-young-children

 

Marissa Robarge 

Research Assistant UConn KIDS