One of the most important keys to success in life- be it school, college, classes or any other field is to have a well-developed concentration and focus.
So, through this blog I’ll share my experience with toddlershttps://thelearningtreee.com/ and by executing these simple activities you can definitely improve toddlers concentration and focus span for a particular task.
Children’s miss out on many learning opportunities and are not able to keep up with their peers due to lack of focus.
It can be difficult to fix a concentration problem in an older child. The best time to work on this skill is during the early preschool years when you as a parent or teacher can actively build their focus.
What is Attention Span?
Attention or concentration span is a child’s ability to give undivided attention to the specific task at hand without getting distracted by other things.
It requires blocking out all other spur- such as getting distracted by different surrounding sounds, watching out what’s happening in the outside world or unnecessary information that hardly matters to us.
School will become extremely difficult and exhausting for a child who struggles to focus as they need to concentrate repeatedly on different tasks. So, it is very important as a parent or teacher to monitor your child’s attention span is increasing slowly with time or not. During the preschool years it is easier to build on toddlers concentration and focus skills along with other developmental skills.
What is the Average Attention Span of a Preschooler?
According to my 10 years of experience I have noticed that:
- The attention span of a 2- year-old is approximately 2 to 3minutes per year of age.
- The attention span of a 3-year-old is approximately 6 to 9 minutes.
- The attention span of a 4-year-old is approximately 8 to 12 minutes.
- The attention span of a 5-year-old is approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
This means the average concentration span of a preschooler is less than 15 minutes on one particular task and for younger preschoolers it is just 5 minutes or even less. This is only a general information and it differs child to child and their development. Child may concentrate for longer (even much longer) if they are interested and engrossed in an activity.
So, if you are concerned about your child’s ability to focus, first you need to understand what you are expecting from them like are you expecting them to concentrate for a manageable block of time or more.
It is much more effective to work on short tasks and provide frequent breaks than to try and sit through an hour with a 4-year-old.
A great way to refocus your child during an activity is with movement.
Activities to Increase Attention Span in Preschoolers
Here are some activities to improve toddlers concentration and focus span in preschoolers.
- Puzzle time
- Building blocks
- Sensory activities
- Art and Craft
- Storytime
- Music
- Outdoor activities
- Yoga
- Sorting and Matching
- Dramatic play
1)Puzzle time
Puzzle time is one of the most helpful exercises for toddler’s cognitive and sensorial development. It also promotes observation, focus, problem solving ability and fine motor skills. This activity helps them to focus on a task for a longer period of time without getting distracted by other things. On completing a puzzle gives them a sense of accomplishment and motivates them to continue their efforts. Their logical thinking and capacity to solve any problems improves as they go through too many trails and error. Overall such activities improves toddlers concentration and focus.
Toddlers strengthen their hands and fingers by picking up and moving puzzle pieces which prepares them for writing and drawing. Placing pieces in specific slots or positions requires hand-eye coordination. It also helps them to get connect emotionally and improves communication skills with the person they are playing with.
2)Building Block
Building blocks are timeless toys that provide children limitless chances for learning and growth. Balancing blocks and maintaining stability develops toddlers concentration and focus or attention span abilities as they are so engrossed in stacking and constructing structures. It helps infants develop logical awareness by allowing them to explore space, size, form, and dimension via hands-on play.
Building blocks encourages creativity and imaginative play as there are no fixed rules or guidelines, so children can make whatever they choose. They can transform blocks into vehicles, buildings, animals and many more imaginative ideas. While constructing blocks babies are forced to use their hands and fingers precisely, improving hand-eye coordination. Hence, building blocks enhances their creativity, imagination and fine motor skills.
3)Sensory activity
Sensory activities provide multi-experience that enhances cognitive, emotional and physical development. Toddlers can improve their tactile sensitivity and perception by running their fingers through sensory bins loaded with grains, beans, sand or water allowing kids to explore diverse textures through touch.
To help kids learn different hues of colors and shapes, the bin or bowl can be filled with items of different hues and shapes. Sensory bins or bowl allow toddlers to create their own stories, scenarios, and games, fostering creativity, imagination, and problem-solving skills. As Parents or teachers we should engage our kids into such activities to improve our toddlers concentration and focus span.
4)Art and Craft activities
Engaging toddlers in arts and crafts activities like drawing, painting, coloring has several cognitive, emotional and physical advantages. Providing or letting them choose their own art materials like crayons, markers, brushes, paints etc. promotes their curiosity, creativity and independence of the creative process. Give them the space to explore and express themselves freely without fear of criticism or perfectionism.
Arts and Crafts encourages toddlers concentration and focus on such as coloring inside lines, mixing colors or adding details like small lines, textures, shading can develop observational abilities and visual discrimination.
5)Storytime
Reading stories with toddlers allows parents, teachers or caregivers to connect with the children in a meaningful and fun way. We should use books that have bright visuals, compelling storylines and rhythmic language to prolong attention span. Choosing age-appropriate books helps toddlers stay engaged and interested in reading. This encourages toddlers concentration and focus to sit quietly and listen attentively. Sharing stories, discussing characters and experiencing emotions together strengthens the parents-child bond and promotes positive interactions.
6)Music
The way our body gets boosted because of exercise in the same way music helps us to boost our brain. Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness, including intellectual, social-emotional, fine motor, language and overall literacy. It helps body and mind work together. Exposing kids to music in their early age of development helps them learn sounds and meaning of words. From the movement we are born we enjoy music; it soothes our soul and it brings joy in our life.
Musical activities, rhythm patterns, dancing to music and basic songs with repetitive lyrics helps children stay interested for longer duration. Singing, clapping, playing instruments, dancing to music and musical games etc. improves kid’s emotional wellbeing and confidence and also it improves toddlers concentration and focus.
7)Outdoor activities
Toddlers always have the curiosity to learn, examine and discover new things. Toddlers who interact carefully with plants and animals, such as watching without disturbing, develop empathy, compassion, and a feeling of responsibility for nature. Toddlers who interact carefully with plants and animals, such as watching without disturbing, develop empathy, compassion, and a feeling of responsibility for nature. Outdoor physical activities like walking, running, climbing help toddlers in physical strengthening and improves toddlers concentration and focus span.
8)Yoga
As we all know yoga is the best tool for calming, improving toddlers concentration and focus and promoting overall wellbeing . They learn to quiet their thoughts and cultivate sense of inner calm through simple yoga poses and breathing exercises. Yoga helps toddlers in body alignment, balance and motor skill development. It helps them in connection with their mind & body. Yoga will also help the toddler and the parent to have a meaningful parent-child interaction and bonding. Parents can participate and have a competition on different yoga poses.
9)Sorting and Matching
Sorting and matching games, help toddlers to improve their focus, skills and thinking abilities. Toddlers Concentration and focus skills can be improved by playing games or sorting out things like shapes, color, size etc.
Playing games will allow infants to grasp and distinguish similarities between different items based on their features. Parents can give them sorting and matching activities using household items like fruits, vegetables and pulses or they can also ask them to find out differences between 2 pictures or finding out different missing items in a puzzle.
10)Dramatic Play
Dramatic play or pretend play allow toddlers in creativity and imagination as they imagine themselves in imaginary world or role play pretending themselves to be superheroes, Pilot, doctor, police etc.
By engaging in dramatic play, toddlers can dress-up clothes, use props, cook something in the kitchen and create their own stories and characters. It will help them with communication skills and also story telling.
Parents should also take part in the play and encourage the child in communicating and asking them different questions or by giving them different situations for the play. This will help to build a bond between the parent and the child or teacher and the child.
By engaging toddlers into such activities we as a parent or teachers can improve toddlers concentration and focus span.