Naps help babies learn and remember. In fact, babies may require timely naps to transfer new information and skills into long-term memory. Does this mean we should be forcing our babies to take lots of naps? No. But we should treat naps with respect…and realize that the last hour (or so) before sleep is prime time for learning.
Observational fear learning is what happens when we use social cues to identify something as threatening. Can kids learn in this way? Yes!
What are the cognitive benefits of play? Read what scientific studies reveal about play and the developing brain.
Are kids confused by fairy tales? Is reading fantasy fiction a waste of time? No. Studies suggest fantasy can boost creativity, learning, and self-regulation.
Parenting Science reviews the research. Which toys support the development of spatial intelligence? Can educational games teach math skills?
Toy blocks can help kids develop better motor skills, spatial skills, and math skills. But to unleash all of these skills, kids need to do more than move blocks around.
Studies suggest that children can learn math lessons from a preschool board game — if the game has these features.
Depending on how you define it, the Mozart effect either doesn’t exist, or is a weak phenomenon with an extremely misleading name. But studies do hint that music can make us feel more alert and focused, giving us a brief cognitive boost. It may also deliver health perks.
Babies possess amazing learning abilities. But to master language, they need our help. Studies suggest we can support language development by engaging babies in conversation, and by providing them with a variety of special cues and communicative experiences.
Research suggests that playful, age-appropriate musical training can help babies learn language-related skills.
Babies make lots of communicative noises, but coos, gurgles, and cries aren’t true speech. When do babies say their first words? Most babies can say at least one or two words by the end of their first year, but the timing may vary considerably from individual to individual.
Do children tell prosocial lies – lies intended to protect another person from harm? Fascinating experiments indicate that many kids are capable of this by the age of 7, and some children show the capacity even earlier.