If we think about attention, it’s what we focus on and are aware of at that current moment. You may notice that your child is able to sustain attention to a toy they love like their toy truck for 5-10 minutes, yet, when it comes to taking off their clothes for bath time, they are distracted, playing with toys and can’t focus on the task at hand.
So, How Do I Improve the Attention Span of My Child ?
In order to improve a child’s attention span, it’s important to eliminate environmental distractions (i.e. bright lights, background noise, clutter), give frequent breaks, do familiar tasks in different ways, and peak their interest and curiosity.
- PEAK THEIR INTEREST: Children are attentive to what entertains them and
peaks were going to do this differently today.” This way youpeak their interest and from that point, you’ve grabbed their attention.
- Bath time/Showering: Use finger paint to have them draw pictures, make letters, or if they’re older, write their name or favorite things during bathing. Play music while they do so to make the environment more exciting.
- Homework/Learning time: Use movement in order to teach new things and help them sustain attention throughout. For example, if they are learning their letters, numbers, or times tables, put it to song and dance, have them draw with shaving cream or in sand to help them engage in an exciting way.
2. BE QUICK: Often we may say something to our children such as “let’s go to the park” and they are excited at the moment, however, once that initial anticipation wears off, and you don’t leave for the park right away, they are not as attentive to the idea. You may find that they did not get ready right away like you asked and are instead playing with their toys. However, if the thing that “peaks their interest” occurs right away, they are more likely to engage and listen attentively to you.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL DISTRACTIONS: Sometime we forget how busy and distracting an environment can be because we are so use to tuning out the bright lights coming into the windows, the people we can hear outside playing, the background noise from the TV in another room. However, for children, especially small children, they have difficulty tuning these things out. Before you act for them to attend to a task, may sure to eliminate potential distractions in their environment such as closing the blinds, shutting off music and TV, and making sure that the environment around them is calm. However, if they still cannot focus, try these strategies:
- Noise Cancelling Headphones or Child Earplugs: When your child has a hard time filtering out noise in their surroundings, a good option can be headphones or earplugs. Headphones will filter out most of the incoming sound whereas earplugs will filter out sound completely for your child to focus on the task.
- Tri-fold Board: If your child becomes distracted by their visual environment, a good option may be to buy a small tri-fold board in order to block out visual input. However, you can also have them sit in another room with a less distracting or bright environment.
4. BREAK UP TASKS: When children have a difficult time completing a task, it is usually because they believe that it’s “too hard” or “too much to do.” What may look like an easy task to you can look like a mountain to them. Therefore, it is beneficial to break up the task into smaller parts in order for them to not feel so overwhelmed.
- Three Part Homework: If your child has difficulty with completing their homework, as a lot of children do, you can break up their homework problems with them into 3 equal parts. After, they complete the first part, set a timer for a 5 minute break for them to then come back to the 2nd part and so on. This can help your child come back with a fresh mindset and ready to tackle the rest of their work:
- Lists & Visuals: If your child is a visual learner, it can be beneficial to use a picture schedule in order to help them attend to and learn how tasks are broken up. For example, if I want them to complete “making a sandwich,” I would break up that task for them in order for them to not be overwhelmed into 1. List materials they need, 2. Steps of how to make the sandwich, 3. How to clean up properly. This breakdown will help keep them focused by helping them sequence the steps.
- For a younger child, you can use pictures in order to help them sequence tasks such as brushing their teeth or steps of toileting.
5. PREPARING FOR TRANSITIONS: Have you ever told your child “it’s time for _____” and them go into full meltdown mode? They didn’t anticipate that they would have to give up what they were doing. Preparing your child for transitions can not only help with their emotional regulation, however, it can also help them will sustaining their attention. By giving your child a cue of when they can expect something to happen, they are better able to shift their focus more readily.
- Timers: Personally, I love using visual timers with children so that they can see how much time is left. Timers are great ways to help your child move onto the next activity. However, also cue your child by saying, “in 5 minutes we are turning the TV off and having dinner. Would you like to set the timer for me?” There are some great free apps for timers in the app store that allows your child to choose the picture and sound for the timer as well.
- Picture Schedules: By laying out the day for your child in picture form, they will be better able to transition from one task to the next and anticipate what’s to come. That way they know that if they get through their homework, then next they have time to play outside.
6. ALLOW FOR FIDGETING: Let them move! Children, no matter who they are or what diagnosis they may have, NEED to move. By asking them to “be quiet” if they’re humming or “be still” if they’re wiggling in their chair, we are preventing them from using their natural way to sustain their focus on what they are doing. So, allow them to tap their feet, get their wiggles out, stand during their homework, chew gum even to help them sustain attention.
- Wiggle seat, wobble stools, and ball chairs: For your child that needs to move and just can’t seem to sit still, they may benefit from a wiggle cushion, a wobble stool, or a ball chair. This allows them move as needed while they focus on what they are doing.
- For your toddler, wiggle seats/cushions can also be something you bring out to a restaurant or somewhere they will be required to sit still due to the portability.
- Fidgets: Fidgets come in some many shapes and forms. However, there are many you can make simply at home with some flour and a balloon or a paperclip and pipe cleaner on the tip of a pencil. Get creative and make it a project with your child to make a fidget to help them sustain attention.
7. GIVE THEM BREAKS: Attention span, even for the average adult, is no more than 10-20 minutes, therefore we cannot expect them to attend to their homework for 30 minutes. Be realistic about their attention span. Usually, a good rule of thumb is that we can expect them to attend to something without distraction their age plus one. Therefore, if they are 4 years old, they should be able to attend for about 5 minutes. Even so, everyone needs breaks. If your child is melting down, is unfocused and distracted, and struggling. Give them a brain break and get moving in between!
Brain Break Ideas:
- Ball break on a therapy ball
- Listen and dance to music
- Do jumping jacks
- Paint a picture
- Do yoga poses
- Play a simon says
8. HAVE THEM GO OUTSIDE: Physical activity is SO important for all, including your child. A study from the University of Illinois tested how exercise played a role in
9. LIMIT SCREEN TIME: You may believe that because your child can attend to a tablet or phone for an hour, their attention span is okay. However, research has found that children who spend too much time on screen actually have increased difficulty with attention when engaging in everyday tasks such as school work.
How much screen time is too much for my child?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should be on screens and electronics for no more than two hours per day. Children age 2 to 5 should receive no more than one hour per day. Despite this recommendation, the average amount of screen time children from age 8-18 spend on electronics per day is seven hours per day.
10. SENSORY DIETS: Sometimes children require a sensory diet in order to help them sustain focus throughout their day. Sensory diets may include activities such as heavy work tasks such as jumping, animal walks, wall push-ups, swinging, weighted objects, or fidget or chewy toys. Sensory diets should be developed by a licensed professional occupational therapist.
What skills does my child need to sustain attention?
In order to sustain attention, your child needs efficient sensory processing, developed executive functioning, good emotional regulation, working memory, motivation, and understanding of language. If they are not fully developed in one of these areas, their attention may not be the best. However, using these strategies may help your child develop improved attention.
How do I know if my child has difficulty with their attention?
Children who have difficulty with attention may not appear to hear you when requested to do something, quickly forgets what they were asked to do, misses details of what they were instructed to do, makes continual mistakes on familiar tasks, is overwhelmed by information presented, begins tasks however quickly become distracted by something else.
When should I seek help?
If you are concerned about your child’s attention, please consult your child’s pediatrician or primary care doctor for further support. Your child may benefit from an occupational therapy referral to determine if their limited attention is impacting other skill areas such as coordination, executive functioning, fine motor skills, social interaction and play skills.
When attentional difficulties are not addressed, children have increased difficulty in other facets of their life including:
- Increased anxiety and stress due to falling behind in school
- Difficulty with regulating their emotions and behavior
- Difficulty with peer interaction skills and working with others in groups
- Decreased ability to follow instructions in school and home environments
Best,
Sarah