Strategies to Help Your Child's Attention
Strategy 1
Expectations house rules-
Make up your own house rules, but some examples are;
- Everyone sits for dinner together and when someone talks we all listen.
- No mobile phones at dinner table/in bedroom.
- When doing homework we will have a break after every 15 minutes to play an attention game.
- The whole family will use the good listening rules.
Strategy 2
Reduce distractions by ensuring a clear and well organised table top.
(see example below)
 |
 |
Strategy 3
Mindfulness time- Click on the link below
both on apps and now even on our fitness trackers are little 30 second or 1 minute mindfulness tasks. It is often to do with breathing or thinking about our body and muscles. These tasks are intended to help us focus on the here and now, being able to push distractions away in order to calm our minds and bodies. How often do you find yourself doing one thing but planning dinner/thinking about work planning the weekend? We are very good at multi-tasking but it is very good to recognise that often multi-tasking means we are not giving one task full attention and this can be stressful.
Strategy 4
Constructive time out-
sometimes we all need to take a walk away from a task, have some quiet time away from noise. It is a good idea to have a quiet corner, often in a bedroom, with some comfortable cushions, maybe a little blanket or tent to snuggle under/ in. This should be a quite space that only one person is in. It provides a safe space for child to retreat to, or adult to help send them to when they a re feeling overloaded.
Strategy 5
Minimise Screen time- The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has not set specific restrictions as screen use is developing so rapidly, however they suggest:
- No more than half an hour for under 2’s.
- An hour for 3 to 5 year olds.
- for advice on screen time see https://family.barnardos.org.uk/health/finding-the-postive-in-screen-time/