Did you know that babies under one year of age are only able to pay attention to something for 2 or 3 minutes at a time?
Attention span develops as a child’s cognitive development progresses. Therefore, as he progresses in his growth, he will be able to maintain his attention for longer periods of time.
The maintenance of attention is also influenced by other variables such as the circumstances in which the activity takes place, the context and other environmental and personal stimuli. If some of these variables can be controlled, we will improve concentration. Therefore, in this post we leave you with the guidelines that can promote attention and concentration for school tasks as well as some exercises and games that can be used to train these abilities at a general level.
Guidelines to Promote Concentration and Focus in the School Environment
To encourage your child’s concentration, help them to:
- Get enough age-appropriate sleep to avoid fatigue.
- Eat a good diet that helps you cope with daily life with foods rich in phosphorus, omega 3 fatty acids and calcium, among others.
- Identify the time of day when you are most likely to concentrate (avoiding night and first thing in the morning).
- Find a space suitable for the activity to be carried out: if it is study, it should be a well-lit, quiet, airy place and preferably always the same space so that it is associated with the activity and predisposes to concentration.
- Prepare the material to be used to avoid interruptions in the middle of the activity.
- Organize the tasks to be performed at any given time. In the case of study, it is advisable to start with tasks of medium difficulty for the boy or girl, continue with the difficult ones and finish with those that are easier for them.
- Take scheduled breaks to rest between activities.
- Avoid distracting items such as the TV, computer, laptop, etc. if they are not necessary to the activity.
- Set short-term goals and gradually increase them to get you closer to your desired goal. Achieving the set goals will motivate the child and increase his or her predisposition to continue working and achieve the next goals.
- Reinforce accomplishments with positive feedback and teach self-reinforcement so that you feel proud of the work done.
Exercises and Games to Improve Concentration at a General Level
In order to strengthen the ability to concentrate, it is necessary to train and this can be done in a playful way with the following games and exercises that we suggest:
Exercises
- Listening to music: music, especially instrumental music, activates the areas of the brain responsible for comprehension, concentration, attention, creativity, spontaneous thinking, cognitive control, etc.
- Sensory stimulation techniques: encouraging the development of sensory abilities allows you to relax and pay attention to what you see and feel. This can be done by putting colored lights in the room with movement effects, spotlights, a fiber optic beam, or having objects with different textures, different sounds, as well as using aromatherapy elements.
- Relaxation techniques: Breathing exercises also promote concentration and keep the body in a relaxed state, preventing stress or anxiety from interfering with the ability to concentrate.
- Mindfulness: This is a meditation-based technique that means “full attention”. It refers to being aware and attentive to the present moment, which promotes concentration and focus.
Mindfulness for Children
- Body postures: imitate Superman or Wonder Woman, where they sit comfortably with their feet wider than their hips, fists clenched and arms outstretched or on their hips and stretch their bodies as far as they can, feeling the strength and how each stretch stretches a part of the body.
- Safari or Mindfulness Walk – Walk with the child and set a goal to notice as many animals as they can see (birds, bugs, or anything that walks, swims, or flies) so they focus all their senses to find them.
- Senses – Encourage them to activate their senses (like Spiderman) to control the world around them. You will need to pay attention to what you hear, see, taste, smell and touch. This can be done in conjunction with all the senses at once, or by paying attention to each sense separately.
We can improve the capacity for attention and concentration in many ways, as we have seen. And you, do you know any game or exercise that helps boys and girls to improve their concentration? Which one do you like the most for them? Let us know in the comments below.
