Practicing an extracurricular activity is beneficial to the child in several specific aspects. Music develops hearing, sport promotes coordination… Beyond these expected and stereotyped skills, it can also improve the intelligence of the child concerned. In this sense, two very specific activities have been identified by scientists.
The school year has now started. While children are returning to the classrooms and the playground, some parents are already thinking about after school, the extra-curricular activities in which their children can participate to be stimulated, progress, cultivate, and maintain their good health. and/or to change their minds. If little ones don’t see beyond the end of their noses, parents know how useful these activities are for their well-being, their health, and even their success. Indeed, practicing an activity outside of school has many benefits – whether it involves sporting activities, manual activities (such as visual arts), cultural activities or learning a musical instrument.
Among this infinity of possibilities, two activities in particular have been praised for their positive effects on the intelligence of the child concerned. It is practicing a team sport and reading. According to a study observing the brains of 500 brats, these two hobbies “are associated with improved cognitive ability” : there memorythere ability to think and the ability to learn of those who indulge in it are more developed. Thus, these two seemingly opposing worlds make children more intelligent and more efficient cognitively speaking. How to explain it? Several reasons are put forward.
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Practicing a sporting activity causes areas of the brain to grow
According to neuroscientists, physical activity increases cognitive challenges that the child faces and increases your opportunities to work on your motor skills. Consequently, it increases the neuronal adaptations of the brain to allow the child to respond best to this activity.* New connections between neurons are thus made, certain brain areas necessary for practicing the sport in question increase in volume, and the brain is finally “improved”. It is this very phenomenon that we call “brain plasticity.”**
For example, when a child learns to play the violin, we observe “a thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas dedicated to hand motor skills and hearing.” “Another example (…) in subjects who learn to juggle three balls. After three months of practice, the MRI shows a thickening of the regions specialized in vision and the coordination of arm and hand movements.” Thus, if the child is registered in a rugby club, we can assume that the areas dedicated to the representation of space are more developed at home.
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Coaching, strategy, “deliberate practice” promote excellence and intelligence
The fact that sporting activities are supervised by adults and built from strategies must probably play a large role in improving the cognitive performance of the toddler. The practice of said activity is structured, supervisednot hazardous: thelearning is targeted, more oriented towards the quest for performance and excellence. Indeed, adults (coaches, trainers, teachers) provide a permanent framework for the child which allows him to know where to go, to progress and to deploy “deliberate practice”*** in said activity (method advocated by personal development).
They guide him throughout his practice, give him regular feedback on small specific actions, encourage him to work on a particular aspect of his activity, highlight his errors (without judging him), offer him solutions to no longer reproduce them. , present strategies to maximize his performance and therefore his progress. By being repeated, these tips and advice are assimilated by the toddler and become automatic.
Conversely, when they are not supervised and supervised in their activity, their intellectual performance is lower because the practice is hazardous and not guided by a performance objective. As proof, researchers found that children who played outdoor games without supervision or who spent time on the computer without any support had less developed cognitive abilities compared to their peers.*
Additionally, if we were to compare it to individual sports, team sport further promotes the child’s sociability, builds team spirit, increases their relational skills and develops their interpersonal intelligence. Taking part in a team sport is therefore not only useful to let off steam or channel your energy overflowing: this helps to develop different types of intelligence (Howard Becker).
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Leisure reading improves linguistics, creativity and intelligence
According to Finnish neuroscientists, reading a book requires a creativity and an vocal, visual, auditory and imaginary concentration, which sustainably improve cognitive functions. At the same time, another study**** carried out by researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Fudan shows that individuals who begin to reading for pleasure from a young age are perform better than others during cognitive assessments and tests.
They are better at verbal learning, memory, speech development and academic achievement; compared to those who begin reading as adults. Reading “is linked to important developmental factors in children, improving their cognition, mental health and brain structure.”
When practicing extracurricular activities, sometimes it is better for the child to be accompanied rather than to play alone!
Freelance journalist
Open-minded and in love with life, Emilie likes to decipher the new phenomena that shape society and relationships today. Her passion for human beings motivates her to write…