Tips To Improve Concentration In Children

The capacity to work on a task with sustained attention is an extremely important developmental milestone for children. It not only helps them to learn better in school but is directly related to positive life outcomes in adulthood through higher self-esteem and self-efficacy. The following article provides strategies for improving concentration in children.

Set Reasonable Limits

Children between the ages of four and five can usually concentrate on a task for five to twenty minutes. But the time may reduce with increasing difficulty of the task. So when introducing new or planning difficult tasks for young children, set a realistic time limit. Ideally, though design tasks that are intrinsically enjoyable to the children so that they can concentrate better.

Focus On One

Though multitasking is feted as a characteristic skill of high achievers in popular culture, research proves that it hampers concentration. So in the classroom, have children do one thing at a time like just singing the alphabet together as they look at the letters instead of tracing them with fingers too.

Make Time For Practice

Concentration is like a muscle that can be strengthened with practice. Help children with age-appropriate exercises or adapt well-proven exercises to build concentration. For example, young children can be taught the basics of the STOP technique to increase mindfulness which is all about focusing on the here and now. This involves

stopping whatever they are doing
taking a deep, slow breaths to ease tension in the body
observing or just noticing whatever is happening around or in the body
proceeding with whatever you were doing, after having anchored themselves, however briefly, to the present

Consider Room Design

Avoid cluttering up walls with artwork, posters and charts. Chaotic displays and overly bright colours might not just be exhausting for oversensitive children but generally distracting as well. Instead, use aesthetic arrangements for alphabets and number charts or use learning frameworks to decide what goes up on the wall display.

Plan The day

See that there are adequate planned breaks included in the school day. This will allow children to rest and recharge with a snack or a romp in the playground. Also alternate high-concentration activities like building models or reading tasks with those that require children to use other skills like socializing as in pretend play.

Help Children Manage Anxiety

When children are anxious, they find it difficult to concentrate. Teach them anxiety-relieving techniques like belly breathing by slowly inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. The practice can be accompanied by raising and lowering of hands as well. As the heart rate steadies and anxiety eases, children will feel much calmer and capable of approaching tasks with concentration.

Yet another way to make challenging tasks more manageable is to break them into smaller parts so that a child can focus on each with better results. For example when learning to tie shoelaces, let the child start by practising the initial knot before moving on to making the two loops and then tying them together. All such measures will go a long way to help children address tasks and goals with sustained focus and attention.