*Photo credit: Vroom

New science has found that a child’s brain develops most rapidly during the first 5 years of life. Adult-child relationships are vital to growing a strong brain and creating neural connections.

Every time a parent or caregiver interacts with a child is an opportunity to build the child’s brain. For that reason, leaders in neuroscience, psychology, behavioral economics, parenting and early childhood development have come together to create Vroom, a website that offers thousands of creative tools to transform daily routine moments — such as story time, mealtime, or bath time — into brain-building moments.

Here are some Brain Building Basics:

• Look: make eye contact with your child
• Chat: talk about and explain things happening around you
• Follow: respond to your child’s sounds and actions, even before they begin talking. When they do start talking, ask questions like “Why did you like that?” or “What do you think?”
• Stretch: make moments longer by building on your child’s words and actions
• Take Turns: go back and forth with your child with sounds, faces, words or actions to create a story or a game

Visit Vroom to learn the science behind a child’s developing brain and discover more tools and activities to nurture your child’s growing mind.