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The ideas hub.

A child's brain is a remarkable little creature forming more than a million neural connections every second when activated. Babies learn through spending time with their parents and other special people in their life. Here are some ideas to help create meaningful moments with your child. These meaningful moments, especially if they occur early in a child’s life and often, build strong brains, providing a strong foundation for their life.

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AGE GROUP

4-5

Find the Opposites

Attention and focus

When you’re waiting somewhere, ask your child to play Find the Opposites with you. You call out something big and they respond with the opposite, something small. Start with easy comparisons, like big and small, high and low, or near and far.

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4-5

Find the Opposites

Attention and focus

When you’re waiting somewhere, ask your child to play Find the Opposites with you. You call out something big and they respond with the opposite, something small. Start with easy comparisons, like big and small, high and low, or near and far.

BRAINY BACKGROUND

When your child learns opposites and distances (near and far), they're learning concepts they'll use in math, science, and reading. Remember, it's always important to play these games in a back and forth way because that is how your child learns best.

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Brainy Background™

4-5

Find the B’s

Attention and focus

While waiting at the doctor’s office or chemist, look around you and try to spot things that start with a B sound. Take turns spotting B’s (like babies, bottles, and baskets) and calling out the words to each other.

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4-5

Find the B’s

Attention and focus

While waiting at the doctor’s office or chemist, look around you and try to spot things that start with a B sound. Take turns spotting B’s (like babies, bottles, and baskets) and calling out the words to each other.

BRAINY BACKGROUND

By using waiting times for learning, you’re helping your child learn to wait as well as to make connections among letters, words, and sounds—all laying the foundation for reading.

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Brainy Background™

3-5

Reporting Live!

Relationships and communication

While waiting at the supermarket, chemist, or doctor’s office, pretend you’re a newscaster. Using your pretend microphone, ask your child questions: “What do you see? Who else is here? What do you think is going to happen next?”

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3-5

Reporting Live!

Relationships and communication

While waiting at the supermarket, chemist, or doctor’s office, pretend you’re a newscaster. Using your pretend microphone, ask your child questions: “What do you see? Who else is here? What do you think is going to happen next?”

BRAINY BACKGROUND

Giving your child a chance to tell the news provides them with an opportunity to observe what is happening around them and put it into words. They're learning to be an effective communicator. There’s nothing like a pretend microphone to get someone talking!

Vroom | Brain Building Moments

Brainy Background™

4-5

Letter Language

Relationships and communication

Use a letter, like B, to begin every word you say. Instead of “Hello, how are you?” say, “Bello, bow bar boo?” Encourage your child to use the same letter to begin the words of their response: “I am fine, how are you?” would become “Bye bam bine, bow bar boo?” How long can you keep it up?

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4-5

Letter Language

Relationships and communication

Use a letter, like B, to begin every word you say. Instead of “Hello, how are you?” say, “Bello, bow bar boo?” Encourage your child to use the same letter to begin the words of their response: “I am fine, how are you?” would become “Bye bam bine, bow bar boo?” How long can you keep it up?

BRAINY BACKGROUND

To keep the game going, your child must focus and think flexibly to switch the letters in the words they say. It also helps them to think hard about what each letter of the alphabet sounds like. Making these connections between letters and their sounds is important in learning language.

Vroom | Brain Building Moments

Brainy Background™

3-5

In the Real World

Attention and focus

When out and about, point out things you and your child have read about in books or seen in their favourite show. For example, "That backpack looks like the one Dora wears!” or “That train makes sounds like Thomas the Train!”

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3-5

In the Real World

Attention and focus

When out and about, point out things you and your child have read about in books or seen in their favourite show. For example, "That backpack looks like the one Dora wears!” or “That train makes sounds like Thomas the Train!”

BRAINY BACKGROUND

This game helps your child understand symbols because they can see how the things in books or on TV are representations of real life.

Vroom | Brain Building Moments

Brainy Background™

3-4

Stop and Go

Attention and focus

While at the park, play a game of Stop and Go with your child. When you say “go” you and your child run, dance, and jump around. Then, when you say “stop” everybody freezes. After a few rounds, let them be the one to shout the commands.

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3-4

Stop and Go

Attention and focus

While at the park, play a game of Stop and Go with your child. When you say “go” you and your child run, dance, and jump around. Then, when you say “stop” everybody freezes. After a few rounds, let them be the one to shout the commands.

BRAINY BACKGROUND

Playing Stop and Go helps your child focus, remember the rules, and not go on autopilot—important skills for success in school and in life.

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Brainy Background™

4-5

Skipper

Taking on challenges

If you're near water (a pond, river, or the sea), skip rocks into the water, talking back and forth about how differences in the shapes and sizes of the rocks affect how they skip. If you’re near a big puddle, you can do a similar experiment with rocks, sticks, or leaves.

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4-5

Skipper

Taking on challenges

If you're near water (a pond, river, or the sea), skip rocks into the water, talking back and forth about how differences in the shapes and sizes of the rocks affect how they skip. If you’re near a big puddle, you can do a similar experiment with rocks, sticks, or leaves.

BRAINY BACKGROUND

This game helps your child learn to create science experiments—to focus on understanding the evidence (how the size and weight of the rock affects how the rock skips) and to make predictions based on that evidence. They're learning critical thinking skills.

Vroom | Brain Building Moments

Brainy Background™

3-4

Still as a Statue

Attention and focus

Ask your child to pretend to be a statue and freeze in a pose, like standing on one foot. Try to have them hold this pose as long as possible while you do everything you can to make them laugh and move. Then you can take a turn as the statue and see if they can make you laugh and move!

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3-4

Still as a Statue

Attention and focus

Ask your child to pretend to be a statue and freeze in a pose, like standing on one foot. Try to have them hold this pose as long as possible while you do everything you can to make them laugh and move. Then you can take a turn as the statue and see if they can make you laugh and move!

BRAINY BACKGROUND

This game is all about focus and self-control. Your child is concentrating to stay in the statue pose, and learning to tune out distractions so they can achieve a goal. This kind of playful learning helps them develop skills for life.

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Brainy Background™

4-5

Nature Patterns

Attention and focus

Have your child collect items like rocks and leaves. Arrange them in a pattern like one rock, two leaves, one rock, two leaves. Then mix them up and ask them to recreate your pattern. Can they remember the order? Have them take a turn making a simple pattern for you to remember.

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4-5

Nature Patterns

Attention and focus

Have your child collect items like rocks and leaves. Arrange them in a pattern like one rock, two leaves, one rock, two leaves. Then mix them up and ask them to recreate your pattern. Can they remember the order? Have them take a turn making a simple pattern for you to remember.

BRAINY BACKGROUND

Noticing and recreating patterns requires your child to use their focus, memory, and ability to make connections. These are all important skills for learning. Playing with patterns also gives them practice with math ideas like numbers, shapes, and comparing sizes.

Vroom | Brain Building Moments

Brainy Background™

Every time we connect with young children, it’s not just their eyes that light up—it’s their brains, too. A global program of the Bezos Family Foundation, Vroom(R) helps parents boost their child’s learning during the time they already spend together. Vroom believes all parents want what’s best for their children. So we joined with scientists, researchers, and parents to take the science out of the lab and put it in the hands of caregivers. Vroom provides science-based tips and tools to inspire families to turn shared, everyday moments into Brain Building Moments(TM). Since 2015, Vroom has grown to impact nearly 1,500,000 families in 37 US states and 6 countries around the world. Learn more at Vroom.org.

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