The Growing Brain

The Importance of Sports, Recreation and the Arts
to the Healthy Development of Children

Turn Off the T.V. and Tune into Your Children

At birth the infant's brain has 100 billion nerve cells or neurons. These neurons will grow and connect with other neurons in systems that control various functions like seeing, hearing, moving and expressing emotion. These systems, which are formed by repeated experiences, provide the foundation for the brain's organization and functioning throughout life. The absence of appropriate experiences results in the lack of development or the disappearance of these connections.

The parts of the brain that handle thinking and remembering, as well as emotional and social behaviour, will develop in the world from the interplay between a child’s heredity and the experiences he or she has during childhood. Just as their bodies need food to grow, science now tells us that the positive emotional, physical and intellectual experiences that a baby has in the earliest years are equally necessary for the growth of a healthy brain. Children are deeply affected by their early experiences. Their relationships with parents and other important caregivers, the sights, sounds, smells and feelings they experience, the challenges they meet, don’t just affect their moods; these experiences actually affect the way children’s brains become "wired." Deprived of a stimulating environment, a child’s brain suffers. Rich experiences produce rich brains. And we are not talking about experiences that cost a lot of money to provide. Every lullaby, every giggle and peek-a-boo, triggers a crackling along a child’s neural pathways, laying the groundwork for what could someday be a love of art or a talent for soccer or a gift for making and keeping friends. Introducing your child to music from a very young age has been shown to have a positive effect on their mathematical reasoning skills when they enter school.

The first years shape a child’s personality. Babies who are hugged often, played with, sung to and feel loved and cared for are much more likely to grow up confident and optimistic.

With all the information we are now learning about how important parenting is to healthy brain development particularly in the first three years of life, many parents wonder whether they are providing sufficient stimulation for their children. The good news is that the tools parents require to help their children develop are readily at hand. I am Your Child organization proposes ten guidelines that promote healthy development and school readiness.

Be warm, loving and responsive - when children receive warm, responsive care they are more likely to feel safe and secure with the adults who take care of them. Researchers call these strong relationships "secure attachments" and they are the basis of all the child’s future relationships. We have always known that children thrive when they feel secure; now we know that children’s early attachments actually affect the way their brains work and grow. We all love our children but it is extremely important that we express that love. Touching, rocking, talking, smiling, singing affect how your child’s brain is "wired" and helps to shape later learning and behaviour. Touch is especially important; holding and stroking stimulates the brain to release important hormones necessary for growth. In fact children who receive warm and responsive caregiving and are securely attached cope with difficult times more easily when they are older. They are more curious, get along better with other children and perform better in school than children who are less securely attached.

Respond to the child’s cues and clues - Infants can’t use words to communicate their moods or needs, but they send many signals to adults who care for them. Children become securely attached when parents and other caregivers try to read these signals and respond with sensitivity. They begin to trust that when they smile, someone will smile back; that when they are upset, someone will comfort them; that when they are hungry, someone will feed them. Parents who pay close attention to their children’s needs for stimulation as well as quiet times help them form secure attachments. We sometimes worry that we will spoil our baby but studies show that newborns who are more quickly and warmly responded to when crying typically learn to cry much less and sleep more at night. In terms of our knowledge of the brain this is what happens. When the baby is hungry, uncomfortable or upset, the brain’s stress-response systems turn on and release stress hormones. The baby expresses his/her distress by crying. When the caregiver responds and provides food or warmth or comfort, the baby tends to be calmed. The stress-response systems in the brain are turned off and the infant’s brain begins to create the networks of brain cells that help the baby learn to soothe himself. Research has shown that by the end of the first year of life, children who have received consistent, warm and responsive care produce less of the stress hormone cortisol, and when they do become upset, they turn off their stress reaction more quickly. This suggests that they are better equipped to respond to life’s challenges.

Talk, read and sing to your child - Children with chatty parents develop large vocabularies and score better on IQ tests later in life. Making up stories about daily events, singing songs about the people and places they know, describing what is happening during daily routines – all of these "conversations" give your child a solid basis for later learning.

However language experts note that kids receive little benefit from listening to TV or adults talking amongst themselves. Only through one-on-one interaction with a caring person will children acquire the language and skills they need. You can read picture books to very young children, even to infants. By about six months, infants show their excitement by widening their eyes and moving their arms and legs when looking at a book with pictures of babies or other familiar objects.

Establish routines and rituals -  A toddler knows it is nap time because his mom sings a song and closes the curtains, as she always does. Daily routines and rituals associated with pleasurable feelings are reassuring for children, as caregivers have long known. Repeated positive experiences, which form strong connections between neurons in the brain, provide children with a sense of security. They also help a child learn what to expect from his environment and how to understand the world around him. Children who have safe and predictable interactions with others have also been found to do better in school later on.

Encourage safe exploration and play - In the first months of life, the parents are the child’s whole world. Interactions between the parent and child form the basis of all subsequent learning. As infants grow and are able to crawl and walk, they begin to explore the world. Parents should encourage this exploration and be receptive when the child needs to return to them for security. Play is important as a learning experience. While many of us think of learning as simply acquiring facts, children actually learn through playing. Flash cards and expensive educational toys are not necessary. To some extent the simpler the toy, the more opportunities they will be for children to use their imagination. Everyday item like pots and pans, cardboard boxes, old clothes and egg cartons are all your child needs. Join in when your child discovers that banging a spoon on a pot makes a loud noise. You will be celebrating your child’s accomplishment.

Make TV watching selective - Television by itself can’t teach an infant language, and it can’t teach him how to communicate. Studies show that children who learn best in school have families who limit the amount of time they spend in front of the TV and are selective as to the kinds of shows they watch. Very young children are still learning about the difference between what is real and what is pretend. Some TV images strike them as delightful, but many others images can be confusing or even frightening.

Use discipline as an opportunity to teach - As children explore their ever-expanding world they need limits and consistent, loving adult supervision. Studies reveal that the way in which adults provide discipline – which really means to teach – is crucial to their children’s later development. Many approaches to setting limits can work, as long as they are intended to help and teach children, rather than punish them. Keep these ideas in mind:

• Redirect your child’s attention or activity by using neutral or positive language: "It’s not OK to draw on the wall, but here is some paper you can use."
  
  
• Say No while maintaining love: "I love you, but I don’t love what you are doing."
  
  
• Give the reason for your rule: "Don’t run with scissors – you might fall and hurt yourself."
  
  
• Give limited tasks and be specific in your requests with very young children: "Please pick up your stuffed animals" (instead of "Please clean up your room.")
  
  
• Acknowledge children’s feelings but set limits: " I know you are angry, but no biting."
  
  
• Help children see how they can use their words instead of their fists to communicate their feelings.
  
  
• Acknowledge positive behaviour; "You did a good job picking up your stuffed animals. Thank you."
  
  
• Never shake your child, especially a baby. This can injure your child’s brain and sometimes even cause death.
  
  
• When disciplining your child do not harshly criticize and shame the child. Never call the child names like stupid, bad or, dumb. Direct your comments to their behaviour, not to who they are as people.
  

Recognize that each child is unique - Children have different temperaments and grow and learn at different rates. We need to respect these individual differences if children are going to feel good about themselves. Children feel good about themselves when they accomplish developmental tasks. When they receive concrete praise from their parents: " You climbed those stairs all by yourself."

Choose quality child care and stay involved - Seek a provider who responds warmly and responsively to the baby’s needs. Select someone who cares about children, is eager to learn about their development and will give children individual attention and engage them in creative play and exploration. Find a setting that is clean and safe. Carefully check the provider’s references. After choosing your child care provider, stay involved. Drop in unannounced occasionally so you can see what your child’s world is like during the day. Don’t be afraid to offer constructive suggestions to improve your child’s experience.

Take care of yourself - Parents and caregivers need care too. Because you provide the primary environments for infants and young children, your health and welfare are extremely important. When you are exhausted, preoccupied, irritable, depressed, or overwhelmed, you will probably have a harder time meeting the needs of young children. When you are overwhelmed, take care of yourself. Reach out and get some help. Family, friends, neighbours, and agencies that support families – all can assist you in fostering your child’s healthy development and school readiness. And bear in mind that there are many ways to reach this goal. When you make a mistake, as all parents and caregivers do, you have many opportunities to make up for it.  

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Essential to Personal Health

	Physical fitness is positively associated with mental health and well-being.
	Leisure activities have psychological benefits such as self expression; companionship, increased self esteem, decreased tension, anxiety and depression, increased confidence, assertiveness, emotional stability, independence and self control.
	Physical activity increases energy and makes weight control easier. Over 10 % of youth are obese and as many as 85% of these youth are expected to remain obese as adults.
	People who are more physically active throughout life generally benefit from a higher level of health and functioning than people who are not active. Exercise activates many of the body’s systems and produces health related benefits. Getting into good exercise habits at a young age is an important prevention strategy.
	Researchers have reported beneficial effects of exercise on the health of children with chronic diseases such as asthma (increased lung volumes and flow, decreased heart rate), cerebral palsy (enhanced endurance of respiratory spasticity, prevention of contractures), obesity (reduced weight).
	Researchers have found that positive changes in leisure functioning were related to favorable outcomes on drug use and criminality.
	Key to Balanced Human Development
	Studies have shown that there is a relationship between physical activity, learning and academic performance in children which include: - High grades are associated with high physical performance; training physical skills can positively affect the basic cognitive skills for children with learning disabilities; students who participated in a daily running program achieved higher levels in reading, language and mathematics and had better cardiovascular fitness.
	Children who participate in sports gain strong task oriented skills plus valuable concepts and values. These include: how you play is at least as important as winning and losing; being the best is doing your best; mistakes are part of learning and improving; all children, regardless of their ability have something to offer and receive from sports; working with, rather than trying to always outdo others, is a valuable dimension of the sports experience.
	Play has a significant impact on problem-solving ability.
	Academics at Harvard University have demonstrated that the arts play a crucial role in improving a students’ ability to learn because they draw on a range of intelligence and learning styles, not just the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence upon which most schools are based.
	The arts are cited as critical for certain foundation skills which include thinking creatively, problem solving, exercising individual responsibility, sociability and self-esteem.
	Three year old involved in music training and group singing classes doubled their scores in spatial reasoning. Music excites brain patterns and promotes their use in complex reasoning tasks. Music at an early age – when connections in the brain are most plastic- provides exercise for higher brain functions.
	Enhances Quality of Life
	Studies of the self-affirming potential of recreation situations demonstrate the powerful effect of recreation and leisure situations on the self-concept. Freely chosen activities are most likely to promote self affirmation.
	There is some evidence that suggest that low levels of physical activity and fitness are associated with loneliness and social dissatisfaction among children.
	Children say that they like to participate in recreation, arts and sports for the following reasons; Fun and enjoyment; learning and improving skills; Being with friends and socializing; Success and winning; Physical fitness and health.
	Teenagers generally report that involvement in sports, games, art, music performance and hobbies are the most demanding and enjoyable activities in their lives.
	Reduces Self Destructive and Anti Social Behaviour
	The likelihood of youth never smoking is directly related to level of physical activity.
	Physical activity /recreation can help youth at risk by:
-	improving self esteem and promoting self confidence
-	providing positive role models
-	teaching teamwork and social skills
-	providing a sense of belonging
-	giving youth something constructive to do
-	providing a means of releasing stress
-	promoting positive morals and values
-	reducing risk factors for disease
-	teaching cognitive, leadership and life skills
-	providing an opportunity for racial integration
-	enhancing cultural awareness
-	providing a sense of community
	fostering family support and promoting wellness
	Builds Strong Families and Healthy Communities
	Families that play together stay together – children and youth remain connected.
	Recreation connects community residents, enhances a sense of community and nurtures new community leaders.
"Kids Booster Club" Family income directly impacts children's involvement in organized sports or the arts. Together with the Huron County Children’s Aid Society and other public and private partners, the Kids Booster Club was initiated to raise funds to ensure that all youngsters can enjoy the life long benefits of active recreation and leisure activities. Financial contributions to the fund are administered through the Children’s Benefit Fund of the Children’s Aid Society.   Top

In terms of child development we know toddlers imitate our actions, by putting on daddy’s shoes, baking a cake like mommy. We know that school age children are affected by the behaviour modeled by adults. How many times have we heard ourselves in what they are saying to their little sister "Stop that before Mommy gets mad" when they are playing house or other imaginary games. We try to provide good models and keep our children away from inappropriate influences yet we believe those who state "The jury is still out on the effects of television: the research is inconsistent and flawed". Psychological research has found that televised violence has numerous effects on the behaviour of children of different ages. These include the imitation of violence and crime seen on television (copycat violence), reduced inhibition against behaving aggressively, the ‘triggering" of impulsive acts of aggression and the displacing of activities such as socializing with other children and interacting with adults that would teach children non violent ways to solve conflicts. Television violence has also been found to have emotional effects on children. Children may become desensitized to real life violence they may come to see the world as a mean and scary place or they may come to expect others to resort to physical violence to resolve conflicts. At age 2 and a half, toddlers begin to pay attention to the television set and begin to imitate what they see and hear on television. Since toddlers have a strong preference for cartoons and other programs that have characters who move fast, there is considerable likelihood that they will be exposed to large amounts of violence. Preschoolers behave more aggressively than usual in their play after watching any high action exciting television content, but especially after watching violent television. By age eight children are more likely to be sensitive to important moderating influences of television content and will not become more aggressive themselves if the violence they see is portrayed as evil, as causing human suffering or as resulting in punishment or disapproval. They are especially likely to show increased aggression from watching violent television if they believe the violence reflects real life, they identify with a violent hero (as boys often do) or if they engage in aggressive fantasies. One boy described a deliberate attempt to reduce his won fear by using identification. "The first time He saw Nightmare on Elm Street "It was easy. I pretended I was Freddy Kruger. Then I wasn’t scared. Now , that’s what I always do and I am never scared. Since identifying with an aggressive hero has a strong influence on increasing aggression, this tactic for reducing fear is chilling. Children may be deliberately trying to conquer their fears of vulnerability and victimization by desensitizing themselves through repeated exposure to horror movies but to the extent that they desensitize themselves to violence and fear they are also very likely becoming more tolerant of violence in the real world. Abused children watch more television than other children do, prefer violent programs and appear to admire violent heroes. Children who are both abused and watchers of a great deal of television are likely to commit violent crimes later in life. Emotionally disturbed children are more likely than other children to perceive television content as accurately reflecting the real world and they may identify with violent characters. There are a number of ways parents can limit their children’s exposure to violence. Restricting the amount and types of programs children watch is probably the most effective approach for children of all ages. However there are also strategies that are specifically appropriate for children at different ages. Since toddlers have a strong preference for cartoons and other programs that have characters who move fast there is considerable likelihood that they will be exposed to large amounts of violence. Limiting such programs is wise with toddlers, who are at an age when they like to imitate what they see in life and on television. It is not the violence itself that makes the cartoons attractive to preschoolers but the accompanying vivid production features. Educational programs that use such features as animation also appeal to toddlers without the negative effects of violent content. Another important thing parents can do is to watch less violent television themselves when their children are awake as toddlers are highly influenced by their parents viewing habits. While watching television together as a family has positive benefits, it has been found that when most of our family time is spent around the television, the negative effects of television increase. Under these circumstances, children watch more violence and have more faith in the reality of television portrayals. It has been found that when parents do watch violent programs with their children but do not discuss the content with them their children may actually become more aggressive. It may seem to children that their parents appear to be in favour of violent activities if they watch such actions on the screen and do not comment on their inappropriateness. Rather than just watching together, parents need to discuss, explain and challenge. In particular, older children and adolescents need to be encouraged to express their opinions and to analyze and question television content. This strategy has been found to reduce their fears and aggressiveness.