If you're the parent of a toddler or preschooler, you may be wondering what to expect from their cognitive skills and development in the coming years. Ages 3 to 4 are a prime opportunity for you to help your kids lay a foundation for being curious learners in elementary school and beyond.

During this time, kids are learning new skills and developing cognitive abilities that will be the foundation of their math and language learning in their elementary years. It's important for parents and caregivers to provide opportunities for enrichment and stimulation to facilitate healthy brain growth.

At age 3, your child's brain is growing rapidly, and they're taking in new information at an incredible rate. By age 4, they should have a good grasp of basic concepts like counting and shapes. As they continue to grow, they'll build on these foundations and develop more advanced math and verbal skills.

At Learning With Kelsey we are passionate about providing parents, caregivers, and grandparents with out of the box solutions for fun activities that facilitate learning without parents having to do a lot of prep work. We believe that if we remove the burden of planning learning activities from parents, they will be free to find joy in learning alongside their kids. Here are three ways to help promote brain development during this crucial stage in early childhood.

Encourage age-appropriate activities.

At age 3 or 4, children's brains are growing rapidly, and they are learning how to solve problems, communicate with others, explore their surroundings, and develop beginning math and verbal skills. This is an exciting time for children as they begin to understand the world around them. So activities that promote these skills, such as puzzles, shape and color games, and letter tracing are great for cognitive development.

We have just redesigned all of our preschool downloads, available in our Learning by Kelsey shop. They provide a themed month of activities, no planning by mom or dad required! We are so happy with how they turned out and can't wait to hear what your little ones think of them.