Tips to sharpen your kid’s memory
Memory plays an important role in boosting your child’s learning, growth and development. A child with poor memory skills can struggle at school, and feel under confident. The good news is that there are several ways in which you can boost your kid’s memory. Even if your child has no issues in particular, trying out these tips will only help to sharpen their memory and brain further.
So, without losing much time, let’s dive into these interesting and important routine tasks, along with some nutritious foods for your child’s daily diet, all which followed regularly can improve the kid’s memory and concentration levels.
Playing memory-boosting games
A fun and challenging way to improve one’s memory and knowledge is by playing memory games. These can be self-made games which can be played anywhere, or board games to play with family members at home, or even online games to play by oneself or with friends.
The options and ideas are unlimited. Make sure you include such games in your child’s developing years. These will exercise their memory muscles and boost their ability to recall and remember things and information correctly.
Learning without any tension or pressure
This especially applies to learning lessons for school. Every child has their own unique way of learning. You should give them the time to truly understand their lessons and they should not feel under any kind of pressure or feeling of inferiority while learning something new. Rather, encourage your child’s curiosity and make them excited about learning new things ahead. This attitude is essential so much so that they will never forget their favourite school lesson ever.
Getting plenty of sleep
Children should get about 8-10 hours of deep sleep every day in order to aid memory consolidation and enhancement. It is also important to have a regular sleep schedule for your kids and that they go to bed on time so that they can get ample rest before waking up for school the next day. Naptime is also important, especially for preschoolers. A research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that children’s ability to recall cartoon images seen in the morning improves by 10 percent following an afternoon nap.
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Include green leafy vegetables in diet
Green leafy vegetables are a rich source of vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and dietary fibre. Vitamins such as A, B, C, E and K play an important role in a child’s brain development and overall health. Veggies to include are spinach, coriander leaves, mint leaves, mustard leaves, lettuce, beetroot leaves etc.
Make sure your kid consumes them on a daily basis. You can incorporate these in subzis like palak paneer or sarson ka saag. You can also prepare salads with lettuce. Mint leaves can be added to refreshing drinks while coriander leaves can be used for garnishing all kinds of curries. Paranthas, theplas, raitas, chutneys…the options to incorporate leafy greens are many!
Nuts and seeds are a must
Children are mostly active, which is a healthy thing, and requires them to be nutritiously fed to stay energetic throughout the day. Including nuts and seeds in their diet can provide energy and also help in boosting their brain. Walnuts resemble the shape of the brain and help enhance memory by providing omega-3 fatty acids. A study found that almond administration for 28 days can significantly improve memory retention. Other healthy nuts include groundnut, pistachios and cashew which are packed with nutrients and healthy fats.
Seeds like pumpkin seed, chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and flaxseeds have an anti-inflammatory effect that improves the development of children’s cognitive abilities. These can be eaten directly or included in cakes, milkshakes, kheer etc.
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Eggs and fish can help
Our brain is made up of fats like omega-3 fatty acid and DHA which are mostly found in egg-yolk and fish like salmon. These superfoods build up brain and nerve cells, boosting one's learning power and memory. If your child eats non-vegetarian foods, then these are great, protein packed foods to include in their regular diet. These are also rich in vitamins D, B6, and B12.
Eggs are perfect for breakfast and you can experiment with all kinds of recipes. Fish can be eaten as a snack during dinner-time.