Most parents these days say that their child is unable to concentrate on one thing for more than a few seconds. No sooner is one toy explored, than the child moves on to the next and easily gets bored by it too.
Hence, I have decided to post the steps we can take to increase our children's attention span and foster patience in them.
1. Less stimulation and entertainment - Children naturally want to explore the environment they are in and if we start entertaining them often, they will get into a habit of expecting the entertainment than to naturally engage themselves in their surroundings. Continuous stimulation leads to a hyper-active child and an exhausted parent. Children are curious about every small thing around them and they assimilate, every sight, sound, smell and simple stuff that we adults take for granted.
2. Minimal TV, videos or apps - Tv and all media over-stimulate our children. They overwhelm them and instead of encouraging children to actively focus, they drastically reduce the developing attention span. For an in-depth understanding of how media affects our children, I suggest reading the following book Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It.
3. A no "No" place - For children to be occupied for long periods of time, there should be a place in the house where we dont restrict them from touching and exploring things. It might be difficult to let the child roam freely in a kitchen or near a bathroom, so having a child's area in the bedroom or living room, will help the child relax and he will be happy to explore with no adult saying "No!" to anything that he does.
4. Simple and beautiful toys - There is beauty in simplicity. This we all know. Children are easily distracted by flashy colours and get tired of such toys very quickly. They are over-stimulated by objects they cannot comprehend like battery operated, noise making toys. These toys grab the child's attention rather than allowing them to actively focus just like TV does. Instead of these, we can give them simple working objects like bottles, boxes which serve a purpose and involve an active attention from the child.
5. Observe but dont interrupt - Children are not hungry for attention, the way we normally think is the case. They would rather be left uninterrupted than be explained how an object works. So sit back and wait until the child makes eye-contact and asks us to help or show something. If we observe children working we will soon realise what awes them and how we can develop that particular interest in them. When we interrupt children we discourage them from concentrating for long periods of time.
6. No distractions - Its very common among caregivers to distract the child so that he eats/drinks/changes his clothes. When we do that, we get the job done but we also hinder their growing attention span. Eating and changing are not unpleasant and boring activities. They are very interesting to the child and if given enough time and allowance, they can enjoy and do these activities all by themselves. If we dont involve the child in the activity of which he is the main part, how can we expect to him to develop a healthy attention span?
The ability to focus goes a long way in life. It is an essential factor for creative, academic and athletic achievement. People who can pay attention make the best of friends, spouses and parents and have healthy relationships.
So when you want to play with your child the next time tiptoe in and check before you interrupt his chain of thought!
Hence, I have decided to post the steps we can take to increase our children's attention span and foster patience in them.
1. Less stimulation and entertainment - Children naturally want to explore the environment they are in and if we start entertaining them often, they will get into a habit of expecting the entertainment than to naturally engage themselves in their surroundings. Continuous stimulation leads to a hyper-active child and an exhausted parent. Children are curious about every small thing around them and they assimilate, every sight, sound, smell and simple stuff that we adults take for granted.
2. Minimal TV, videos or apps - Tv and all media over-stimulate our children. They overwhelm them and instead of encouraging children to actively focus, they drastically reduce the developing attention span. For an in-depth understanding of how media affects our children, I suggest reading the following book Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It.
3. A no "No" place - For children to be occupied for long periods of time, there should be a place in the house where we dont restrict them from touching and exploring things. It might be difficult to let the child roam freely in a kitchen or near a bathroom, so having a child's area in the bedroom or living room, will help the child relax and he will be happy to explore with no adult saying "No!" to anything that he does.
4. Simple and beautiful toys - There is beauty in simplicity. This we all know. Children are easily distracted by flashy colours and get tired of such toys very quickly. They are over-stimulated by objects they cannot comprehend like battery operated, noise making toys. These toys grab the child's attention rather than allowing them to actively focus just like TV does. Instead of these, we can give them simple working objects like bottles, boxes which serve a purpose and involve an active attention from the child.
5. Observe but dont interrupt - Children are not hungry for attention, the way we normally think is the case. They would rather be left uninterrupted than be explained how an object works. So sit back and wait until the child makes eye-contact and asks us to help or show something. If we observe children working we will soon realise what awes them and how we can develop that particular interest in them. When we interrupt children we discourage them from concentrating for long periods of time.
6. No distractions - Its very common among caregivers to distract the child so that he eats/drinks/changes his clothes. When we do that, we get the job done but we also hinder their growing attention span. Eating and changing are not unpleasant and boring activities. They are very interesting to the child and if given enough time and allowance, they can enjoy and do these activities all by themselves. If we dont involve the child in the activity of which he is the main part, how can we expect to him to develop a healthy attention span?
The ability to focus goes a long way in life. It is an essential factor for creative, academic and athletic achievement. People who can pay attention make the best of friends, spouses and parents and have healthy relationships.
So when you want to play with your child the next time tiptoe in and check before you interrupt his chain of thought!
Hi Anjum,
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting. Please keep up the good work.
Good write up, anjunm. something to ponder...have this habit of feeding my 2 yr old in front of the TV.
ReplyDeleteThis is really so important and as I observe in my son that this short attentive span which they attain also increase their temper tantrum they becum more aggressive
ReplyDeleteI know.. First thing you can do is reduce the number of his toys and stop all media. You'll face a lot more struggle than now but it will pay off later.
DeleteThanks Sandhya, yeah i've heard of everyone doing the same thing. It surely makes it easier to feed our children but doesnt help as a long term solution. Children become slow eaters and always need a distraction to eat. What you could do is to allow your child to eat by herself. She might make a mess and eat less than what you'd like but she'll soon get interested in the process of eating. You can also involve her when you cook so that she feels curious about the taste of everything you offer.
ReplyDeleteWow, your parenting philosophy seems to be so much similar to mine!! I'm liking the idea of sending him to eagerkids more n more :D
ReplyDelete-Divya