Skills that can help naturally boost concentration in children
Technology comes with a host of distractions, making it difficult for some children to concentrate. Here are some tips to adopt with your child.
Helping our kids concentrate can sometimes be challenging.
If you put a child in front of a screen, their curiosity to explore and discover things around the house or outside diminishes.
Jess Martin, an early years expert and child educator, says: "Concentration is a skill that starts developing the moment a child is born. It can be improved and strengthened, but it does require effort."
Martin believes that concentration skills can be taught and nurtured. Here are some of her suggestions on how to naturally boost your child's concentration.
1. Introduce quiet time activities—anything from looking at a picture book to writing out gratitude notes can help kids improve their concentration.
2. Set them achievable household tasks—create a roster of things they can do around the house based on their age. These don't just teach them how to clean up after themselves; they also help them celebrate their ability to complete something.
3. When they are busy with an activity, try not to disrupt their focus. It's easy to prioritise your wants with the hustle and bustle of life, so calling out to your child to help with something or ask a question comes naturally. However, this might disrupt their focus if they are concentrating on something else.
4. Encourage risky active play. As a parent, it's natural to want to protect your childr from everything, including falling off the jungle gym. However, falling helps them grow; it helps them focus better the next time they jump on the monkey bars.
5. Get them involved in cooking. Helping your kids eat well and take nutrition and nourishment seriously means getting them to prepare food with you in the kitchen. Cutting, chopping, slicing, grating, and mixing all help aid in your child's concentration.
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6. Let them be bored. Many parents get anxious when their child says they are bored and turn to screen time as a solution. Being bored allows your child to get creative.
7. Limit screen time for the entire family. Parents often tell kids they are not allowed screen time, while they sit in front of the TV or are glued to their devices.
8. Read to them daily. There's something special in reading to your child every day. Not only does it help build core memories, but it also helps them improve their listening skills.
9. Avoid rushing them. Letting them learn at their own pace helps boost their confidence in doing things for themselves.
10. Model focus and patience for yourself. Kids are sponges; everything they do comes from seeing healthy or unhealthy habits.
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