Positively Develop Your Child’s Attention Span

How many of us have worried about our kid’s short attention span?  Nothing seems to keep them occupied for a long time thus making it immensely difficult for us parents to device interesting activities for the little ones. To give our readers a brief idea of a child’s attention span-it varies from age to age, approximately about 3-5 minutes for every year of age. So your two year old should be able to hold her attention for around 6-10 minutes & a five year old for about 15-25 minutes. 

Kids with longer attention span are easier to keep occupied & in more cases than one they keep themselves easily entertained. Momsters discusses a few tips on how you could help your child build their attention span.

• Nutrition & Diet: Provide a healthy & nutritious diet to your child comprising of complex carbohydrates like cereals, bread, pasta, proteins viz milk, dal, curd, cheese, eggs, fish, fruits & juices. 
• Limit Screen Time: Researches prove that frequent changes of camera and focus may actually shorten attention span. There is evidence that television watching can promote antagonism in children. A lot of screen time also makes children less interested in multi-sensory, intellectually, socially and emotionally nourishing activities. 
• Physical Activities: Sports like martial arts or other physical activities help children learn patience thereby enhancing their attention span. 
• Identify Child’s Interest: Help your child develop his attention span with things that interest him rather than focus on things the child does not find appealing. 
• Slow & Steady Progress: Patience is the key to helping your child develop their attention span. Don’t hasten them into something; gradually decrease the amount of interaction during an activity. While you're playing, respond to everything they say, but don't be over-excited or entertaining. Remember this time is to dedicated to something totally different & steer away from any teaching or school chores. If you distract your child with conversation, he won't be able to maintain his focus independently. 

• Introduce Music: Music when used in the background while the child does an activity helps build focus. Introduce music while your child is involved in an activity & observe how he responds. 
• Confidence & Self Esteem: Building your child’s self-esteem & confidence boosts their attention span. 
• Activity Rhythm: Keep a tab on your child’s activity rhythm & see when they are most alert & vice versa. Synchronize their activities with their activity rhythm.  
• Hands on is BEST: Hands on activities with tactile simulation such as a “touch & feel box” is a good way to develop your child’s attention whilst keeping them positively involved. Devise interesting & manipulative material to keep them occupied & involved. 
• We hope these tips help our readers further assist their children in working on their attention span development.