Brain training tips from kids
Kids today know more about the brain than most adults. The youngsters are learning how to use mental attitude and physical activity to boost brain performance. The average 10-year old knows more about how to manage their nervous system than the average 80-year old, unless the adult has read Better with Age: The Ultimate Guide to Brain Training.
When I was in elementary school in the 1960s, we didn’t learn much of anything about the human brain. The times, they have a-changed! In the 4th-grade science classrooms where I do volunteer work, I often see posters that illustrate the brain and the central nervous system.
Fortunately, mentoring can work up and down the intergenerational ladder. Here are some important tips we can learn from the kids who know more about the brain than most adults:
Stay positive
At a recent conference for educators, a speaker reported on her efforts to teach children between the ages of 3-5 about the brain. After several sessions, here’s what the kids had to say about their brains:
- I want to grow my brain bigger.
- I am a neuron maker.
- When I am 100 years old, my neurons will be really big.
These youngsters accepted the idea that neuroplasticity helps our brains get better with age. Young children can be less “ageist” than many adults! The older brain can be more powerful than a younger brain, but most adults seem to think the opposite is true.
Stay motivated
A program entitled “Brainology” helps students in grades 4-9 understand how lazy brains can be trained to perform better. It lists the challenges that kids need brain training for (summarized below):
- Focus and concentration
- Remembering
- Difficulties with certain subjects
- Distractions
- Feeling inadequate compared to others
- Not enough help from others
- Inadequate study skills
- Lack of interest/motivation
This list sounds quite similar to what adults over age 50 often need help with! But the kids are more encouraged and motivated to train the brain to work more efficiently. If adults have trouble remembering, they often take the lazy way out, blaming their age or Alzheimer’s rather than pushing themselves.
Stay active
Several years ago, I got a call from Albert, the nineteen-year-old son of a good friend. He said, “I want to hear about this brain stuff you are doing.” I was astonished, as no teenager I knew had ever seemed particularly curious about our brain.
At the time, Albert was a student at a local community college, developing a career as a musician and living at home. When we got together, I asked him what he was hoping to get out of our time together.
He said he was doing well at school, and his musical career was also going well. However, a teacher had asked him to play with a professional band at a fundraiser for the school, and he felt it was taking him too long to learn new songs, compared to the other musicians. He wondered if his brain could learn faster to help him keep up.
I affirmed his curiosity, and asked if he was nervous about playing in a bigger league. He said, “Maybe.” We discussed how too much anxiety interferes with the brain’s ability to learn, and that the best antidote for anxiety is physical activity. He had gotten away from exercise, so he decided to return to running to boost his brain and learning ability.
The next month, Albert had two solos at the fundraiser, a sign of how much confidence the professional band had in him. He went on to form a new band under his own name, with one of his teachers playing in it!
The effect of physical exercise on our brain is a widely researched topic. While exercise alone cannot guarantee brain health, it has been shown to reduce anxiety and protect neurons from toxic stress hormones and inflammation.
The trick is to stay mentally and physically active, whether we are 11 or 111. We need each other to stay positive, motivated, and active to maximize our brainpower at any age. Challenge yourself: take a class and learn a new hobby or skill today.
