How good is your attention span? Observe other adults around you carefully. How long do they concentrate on a task at hand? All of us do everything in spurts because we can’t concentrate on one thing for too long. If as adults we find it hard to concentrate on one thing for too long imagine how tough it must be for children. Children learn everything at a very furious pace, especially the children under the age of 10. Teachers who teach these kids have a tough time keeping them engaged with learning. However, it’s not too difficult with the right techniques. Here are a few things you can do to get children’s attention.
Begin with a light activity
The beginning of the day is the best time to engage in a fun activity and liven the mood up. Happy children will pay more attention to what you have to teach them. You’ll have full attention for the rest of the day. You can do engaging activities which are fun for everyone, like identifying shapes or dumb charades. You can set them puzzles and get them to split into teams to discuss. This will clear foggy minds and make the children alert for the rest of the day.
Get them to move
Moving is a great way to squeeze the laze out of kids. Get them to engage in activities like stretching, clapping hands, finger snapping and even walking around in circles. This makes the mind alert and makes the children attentive. Get the blood flowing which makes the children more attentive. For a more vigorous activity have them march in place or play quick short games. Children often work on positive reinforcement which means that they respond to getting rewarded. Candies are often the most enticing things for children. You can always stash a bit of popular Mexican candy to hand out to kids who do well.
Teach them to work together
Teaching kids to work together is a great life skill. Get them to do activities together so they learn how to work in a team. This can result in kids becoming competitive. The aim of these activities should be to promote teamwork, not competitiveness. After each activity, have a feedback session where you ask the children to critique their own actions and share honest feedback. Children are eager to improve and if they feel comfortable, they will express freely their shortcomings and make a full effort to improve.
Get everyone involved
Involve everyone in the room. When children see that everyone is giving equal attention they are more inclined to do the same. You have to have a fair idea of all the personalities in the room to be able to engage everyone. Pose an interesting question and pair children into teams if you feel that there won’t be much participation from some children. Ask for their honest answers and teach them to respect all opinions.
Handling children isn’t difficult but going by the book won’t help either. Every child is different. Make an attempt to connect with them and you’ll know ways to engage them.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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